You Bloody Stupid Basxxxx!
by Sike
Summary: Draco tries to warn him, but you know Potter... The two are locked in a room with no way of getting out until the sun comes up. Now the question is, which one gets to live through the night? ..HD slash.. Now COMPLETE! WOOT!
1. You're going to die, Potter

Disclaimer: I am to ownership as beaver is to candelabra.

**You Bloody Stupid Bastard**

**Chapter 1: You're going to die, Potter.**

AN: A test story. I though it would be a fun little thing to write while I was brainstorming other fics. It's quick and fun to write, so here it is.

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He won't leave. He won't get the fuck out of my room!

"You said you had a message for me, from Snape, was it?"

Potter nods slowly. He's still looking around the walls of the tower, glancing out the barred windows and tracing the carpet with his foot. Maybe he's never been in my house, but he needs to leave, right bloody now!

"Was it hard? Moving out of your old home? This place is so different."

You prat. You prick. You wanker! Get out of here!

"It's been five years, and when your entire family is psychotic, it's not hard, believe me."

"I guess I will, on that."

"Ah! This is way beyond the point, Potter! You said you had a message from the blazing hero brigade. Great. Give it to me and then leave me the fuck alone!"

The sun just sank past the window and I can feel a twitch in my jaw. He looks at me, his eyes filled with more questions. Shit.

"What's wrong? You've been on edge since I got here." He walks forward instead of away, looking concerned. "Is this about…"

"This is about absolutely nothing!" Panic is beginning to set in, my hands grip the chair so hard I can hear the wood creaking under the fabric. "What. Is. The. Message. Potter."

He sighs, stopping halfway across the room. The triad of candles on the wall flare into life. I don't think there is even a minute left of time.

"Severus says to tell you he checked, and today is sixty. It seemed important that you get this message, I'm sorry I couldn't get here sooner. This isn't a safe neighbourhood for me so I…"

I believe my ears have shut down. Oh hell and damnation. Today was sixty. I rise from my chair so fast it makes Potter jump. I grab a hold of his arms, barely remembering to rein in my strength as I push him towards the door.

"What? What is it?" He's fighting against me.

"You have to get out of here, now!" I shout at him.

He digs into the floor with his feet. "I won't. Not until you tell me what's going on."

We're barely a foot away from the heavy-set door, but fool that I am, I stop pushing enough to bring us to a halt. "Listen, you fucking idiot, do you want to die?"

His expression tells me he fears the worst. "What do mean?" He asks quietly.

"If you don't leave my room in the next twenty seconds, you're going to die, Potter." If my intuition is playing me false, it might be less…

He's angry now. A grown man now and he still has mood swings. "What, are you going to kill me?"

"Yes, I am." Get out get out get out wanker get out! "Thirteen seconds, Potter."

He blinks in disbelief. "I though you didn't want me dead."

11…

Shit

"I don't."

8…

Fuck it.

7…

"Why then?"

5…

"Harry, please…" I don't know which is more shocking: using his first name or begging.

3…

Damn. He doesn't know it, but he's using will magic. I can't move him until he wants to move.

2…

"Talk to me." He asks, like it's all that simple.

1…

"You damn stubborn fool!" I yell in his face. I turn away from him and storm back to my desk. In my blind anger I decide to sit _on_ my desk and cross my legs in my familiar way. Bollocks… chairs are for calm people.

He opens his mouth but says nothing. He doesn't understand. There was no tell-tale click, there never will be, but that doesn't change the fact that we're now locked in this room.

"You're dead, Potter. You're fucking dead and it's your own fault."

"What happened to 'Harry'?" Is all his dumb-founded mind can come up with as a response.

"Yes, him too. He's only got a few hours left to live."

He takes a step closer and I feel my entire system lurch. "Don't come towards me! Stay on that side of the room!"

Again, he doesn't listen. He walks forward.

His mouth forms the word 'why' but I can't hear anything.

My system has been triggered. It's a sensory overload.

My vision becomes complete as my eyes see through the shadows. My hearing returns and I can hear the gentle chime of the silence. I can feel the night against my fingertips. I take a breath and I can smell everything, including the blood in dancing through the chambers of his heart. With the habitual sting, my fangs push their way through my gums.

Some of the transformation is visible to my new companion. He will see the flare in my eyes, the veins in my face and the dangerous feeling trained into every wizard. He will know what it means.

"Oh my… Draco…" His heart speeds up. He's only halfway across the circular room, but he won't come closer, not now.

I gasp at the feeling of his racing blood. It's been sixty days, too long. When my mouth opens I can already taste the skin of his taught neck.

"You're dead, Harry... very soon, anyway." I jump down from the desk to lean against it.

"I…" Oh sure, he's backing away now. Of course he wants to leave now. "I…"

I can't help it; a tear finds its way to my face. I brush it away, disgusted with my tears, with Harry, with everything.

Everything, except the one thing that my body is shrieking at me to take.

"You bloody stupid bastard!"

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AN: You like? You hate? You want more? Review! 


	2. Now that we've got the time

**You Bloody Stupid Bastard !**

**Chapter 2: Now that we've got the time…**

AN: This chapter comes out this soon because the quick response made me happy. I have half a **_Hic Tandem_** and half a **_Rom & Rem_** chapter done so hopefully I'll get those out soon as well. Peace.

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"_You bloody stupid bastard!" _

I yell it so loudly it reverberates off the walls. "Do you ever listen to anything people tell you? You are such an unbelievable dickhead."

As he glares at me from across the stone chamber, I can tell he's mustering up his courage. What's the point? Forgetting that I could rip his fucking head off at any moment won't stop it from happening.

"I don't listen? It's bloody pointless when you never tell anyone anything! When did this happen? Why?" He turns around to grab the door handle. "Well if you wanted to hurt me even more, you got it. Just don't expect me to stay and listen to your empty death threats." He gives the handle a wrench.

And then another.

And then another.

On the sixth try, he turns around to face me. "What is this?"

I nearly grind my fangs into my lower jaw in anger. With my heightened senses, I get angry quickly. Well really, I get anything quickly… no, don't think that way Draco. Not with him here. "_This_ is what I was trying to tell you before. This room is designed to contain me. When the sun is gone and my vampiric form takes over, the room is locked."

Harry glances at the window and I shake my head. "It's sealed magically. There is no way to get in or out until the sun rises. You're stuck here."

He still looks angry, challenging. Maybe he's preparing for a fight? Please. "So I'm dead because you're going to drink my blood? I thought you didn't want me to die?"

_Thump thump._ Buggering hell, that heart of his makes it hard to concentrate. I try to shut it out but it won't go away.

"Yes, we covered that. Maybe you've misunderstood me. I don't know if you understand what bloodlust is, but it doesn't pick and choose."

_Thump thump._

A smirk tweaks Harry's face. "That's so fucking typical of you isn't it?"

"What?"

_Thump, thump. _Ah shit, stop teasing me!

"It's typical of Draco Malfoy not to be able to control himself. He lets other people make decisions for… are you listening to me?"

"Uunh?"

_Thump, thump. _He's looking at me like he can't even hear it… Oh, I feel like I'm in a story by that morbid muggle…

"What is wrong with you?" The anger in his voice is ebbing again. Why the hell does he still care about me?

Something clicks in my head and I'm able to shut out the beating of his hideous heart. "Nothing, nothing… And as for _control-_" I shoot him a dark look and grin, purposely showing my fangs, "if I were a slave to my lusts, you would already be drained."

"Oh really?"

I can't help but respond to this challenge. Using my agility I cross the room without Harry seeing. "Rrrrreally…" I breathe the word across his neck and shoot back to the desk. To him, I haven't moved.

Startled, he brings his hand to hover over his neck; right where my face was moments ago. I can feel the chills run down his spine from here. It's a shiver that we both enjoy.

I use this moment of distraction to redirect our conversation. "Look, Harry, I don't want to start fighting again, I really don't. Didn't you want to here what happened to me?"

He looks at me sidelong. "I thought you weren't going to tell me. I mean, you didn't seem too interested in talking before."

I can't help but sigh. Love or hate him, Potter is thick thick thick. "I might as well, now that we've got the time. Who knows, I might be able to save you if I can avoid focusing on, ahem, eating."

He swallows sharply. "Right, so what happened? Like you said it's been five years since you turned away from our world and no one but Snape knows why."

I sit up on the desk again as Potter sinks to the floor. By some stroke of unforeseen intelligence, he seems to understand that he should keep his distance.

"Vampirism is _why, _but you had to know I wasn't going to join Dumbledore, no matter how much you wanted me to." When I told Harry that no relationship was going to make me join the light, that relationship ended. The last conversation between us hurt so much I thought we'd never see each other again.

"So who did you join?" And yet here he is, and I have Severus to thank for it. Someone give me the strength to keep this fool alive.

"Nobody. I stormed off from the manner and ended up drained in Nocturne Alley. Being undead pulls you off the political scene rather indefinitely, wouldn't you say?"

He looks down in shame. "I'm sorry, you know. If I hadn't pushed you to decide, then maybe…"

I cut him off: "Not so fast, Potter. You fuck things up enough on your own; you don't need to take credit for my mistakes, too."

He smiles and then nods in agreement. "I know." He looks up again, still curious about my life. "Severus told me the tower was his work, what's it for?"

Oh, you adorable idiot, Potter. Still slow on the uptake… "To keep a hamper on my appetite, obviously. A young vampire has more risk of getting caught and is much more vulnerable. Without this place I would ignore careful stalking and feed every single night on whoever I could find."

"So if I hadn't stayed tonight, by tomorrow morning you would have been…"

Dead. Oh shit, you can't tell him that! "No worse for the wear, but getting ready to drain someone very soon."

"Oh." He leans his head back against the door to look out the window. "This is going to be a long night, huh?"

"Mmm."

You have no bleeding idea.

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AN: This was a chapter that needed to exist so sorry if it isn't as good.  
I have all the chapter concepts down so I can give you the name of the up coming chapter each time.

Chapter 3: Don't excite me.

Next one should be fun, so hopefully I'll see you later!

Review!


	3. Don't excite me

**You Bloody Stupid Bastard**

**Chapter 3: Don't excite me.**

Disclaimer: I don't own the Harry Potter books, but you know… I don't own a lot of things… the world is safer that way.

AN: Woohoo! I'm back. Been reading The Picture of Dorien Gray. (Please note that Oscar Wilde writes the best hidden slash ever.) Yay, I love it. Also, I saw Charlie and the Chocolate Factory. It was great! I have this unexplainable impulse to go and see it, like, 70 more times. One week till I go on a 17 hr. train ride! Yay. Oh right, you don't care, well… here you are then:

* * *

"So why you?"

Harry looks up at me in confusion from across the room. "What?"

I've moved to a place on the floor, close to the cool stones, but we've been keeping at a healthy distance for about thirty minutes now. Harry is sitting under the window so I can watch the progress of the moon behind him.

"Why were you sent to give me a message? Everyone and their owl knew we had, um, split up."

Harry shrugs his shoulders. "Severus told me to go. But… it's been a long time Draco, isn't it in the past?" From the look on his face, I can tell he really wants this.

"Yes." That ruddy friggin' bastard! He sent him here on purpose! The next time I see Snape I'm gonna take that wand of his and fucking jam it- oh, right. I'm never going to see him again. Damn. Death is a bitch.

"Draco?" Bloody buggering hell! Does he have to keep reminding of his presence? I'm already feeling so weak… haven't had a good feed in sixty days… ugh, focus.

"Mm?"

"Why can't you just drink my blood and make me a vampire? It'd be interesting, being a vampire. You didn't die when someone drank _your _blood."

Oh no. I lean my head back against the wall and grit my teeth behind my lips. _Don't give me ideas, Potter. _"Unnn… it doesn't work that way. It's another bl- blood thing. Some families have the turning gene and some don't. Potters aren't known for their vampires. Chances are I'd kill you."

"So Malfoys _are_ known for their vampires?" He says jokingly.

"Yes, actually."

"Oh."

…

I've got my eyes closed. I haven't opened them for about fifteen minutes. We've been sitting in silence, trying to keep me sane. But…

But it's all I can think about. Blood. Red and slick. Siphoning from that smooth, pale neck. Tasting that little hint of skin underneath the flow of blood. I already know what that neck tastes like, which makes it worse.

But no! Always no. The truth is… the truth that he doesn't need to know… is that I'd rather starve to death than feed of his lifeblood. And so I will.

"DRACO!"

"Gah!" He's right next to me and I never sensed him move! If I weren't feeling so sluggish I would have jumped about a mile into the air.

"Hello? Earth to Draco, come in Draco, this is the other person that happens to be stuck in this room… trying to communicate!" He's angry. Merlin only knows how long he's been trying to get my attention…

Mmmm, I can feel the anger. It's warm and fresh and making his blood boil.

"Potter…" I'm panting… not good. I'm far too turned on for my own good, but he's right next to me and so warm… "get…uh…"

I can't even form the fucking words! This is pathetic!

But he's responding to my manner, not words. His face warms up a little as he leans closer. He rests one hand on my neck and lets the other fall onto my chest. It's almost like… like he's trying to make sure it's the same body he used to hold. Checking for all the sensitive spots he's familiar with.

Ohhh, ahhh, fucking bugger. I can smell a new dimension to his blood. A taste even more delectable than anger. Passion, longing and something else…

He's watching me as moves closer, almost like he's not sure if I want him to.

Oh, but I do. I want him to come closer. To let me kiss his lips, to let my mouth slip past his jaw, to let my teeth break through the skin that hides his jugular from me.

His hand slides down my chest, trailing down my hips… my thigh… "Am I allowed to kiss you Draco?" He asks, smiling coyly. Yes, just a bit closer…

Control! Control! Find your fucking control. No hands sliding where they shouldn't… Think of something else… ANYTHING. His lips find mine, and bring that damn clever tongue along with them… Harry. Only thing in my brain, nothing else to think of but him. Sliding devil warming my icy mouth…

Oh, you'll be the death of me, Potter. **Not if you're the death of him first, you bloody stupid bastard!** No.

Like moving through water, but moving nonetheless, I manage to push him away from me. The separation literally burns my skin. I want so much to pull him back to me, but I know that I can't. I can't give in now.

"What is it?" How he became an intuitive little meddler as a boy, I shall never be able to fathom. When it comes to me, he is always asking questions.

"Harry, you can't keep, er, exciting me like this." He glances down below my waist and grins.

"_Don't excite me_, indeed. Looks like I can. I've missed our moments."

I hold up my hands in front of him. "No, you fucking moron, no moments! No anger, no tears, and for pity's sake no lust." It was funny to him before, but he can tell I'm serious.

"Why?" He gracefully and almost subtly removes his hands from my body. (Note: one out from _underneath_ my shirt.)

"Because as a vampire, you can't really switch on one lust without, er, turning on the other one as well."

"Really?" Harry raises an eyebrow with stunning dexterity, by the way.

"Erghh" I clap my hands over my eyes to try and erase the extremely pleased and intrigued look on Harry's face as he thinks of the possibilities.

Come on Draco, he's not sexy. No, not the slightest bit. Ravishing equals bad. (And in this case sudden and painful demise.) No ravishing.

"Listen, I suppose you can tell I still, um, care about you and stuff…" how very fucking articulate, Draco "but it might be better for the both of us if you gave me a bit more space."

Thinking about something in his pretty little head, Harry drew his lower lip between his teeth. Bad thoughts Draco, bad thoughts, bad thoughts, oh but they were such good ideas…

"Hhhharry." Raspy. I am weak weak weak.

"Yeah?" He's tugging at a slightly chapped bit on his lip.

"If you draw your own blood on those lips, so help me… ugh, 'cause there will be no one to help you."

"Oh. Uh, point taken." He stops and edges away to put a few feet between us. "I'm sorry I'm making this sorry so hard for you Draco." And he really looks it, too.

"That's alright. At least it's one interesting way to…" _**die**, way to remind yourself and nearly slip… AGAIN! _"uh, spend the night."

"You take your captivity so well."

"Huh." Sarcastic dickhead. I would've already killed you, if I didn't love you.

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AN: Da de da de da daaaaaah! Finished! How was that? Good? Bad? Roasted till golden brown? Over easy? Let me know!

Better yet, let me know and I'll post the next instalment:

**Chapter 4: There's something you're not telling me.**

Now I really must dash,

Tah.


	4. There's something you're not telling me

**You Bloody Stupid Bastard**

**Chapter 4: There's something you're not telling me**

AN: Allo readers and reviewers! Thank you for your comments. For those who still have an interest in this fic I apologize for leaving this for so long. I went on vacation last week and hung out by the ocean. Ah! The ocean at night is the most beautiful thing ever! It's black and sinister, and it reflects all the lights in little streams. You get it all to yourself and the wind is just… ah, lovely. I saw two shooting stars, yay! There were so many stars because the town is small and doesn't have an uber amount of lights.

Looks up wow, pointless ramble eh? Oh well, I've two more things to say:

1: Since I've now read book six, this fic must be considered to have occurred in a universe without it. (Though my other fics will probably evolve accordingly…)

And…

This chapter is dedicated to the Half-Blood Prince. Long may he rule! _snicker_

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It comes in waves now. I don't know how long we've been here, or how long we have to go, but I know how many waves there have been.

Four.

And each time the call of the blood is a little stronger and I have to dig in a little harder. And I can feel my final death is a little closer.

I've started to do some very stupid things. I tried to pretend he wasn't here, which proved impossible…

Now I can't get my last kill out of my head.

_Who's there? I warn you, I'm an experienced auror and I have no problem hexing a person!_

He had been so very afraid… and such a good feed…

Shit. Pain flares across my stomach, cruel and demanding. I try to ignore it, or push through it, because I know it'll only get worse… I can't stop the hiss of pain that escapes me.

"There's something you're not telling me." Harry's voice invades my private hell.

"Mmm, probably." I don't have the will to deny it. I open my eyes to see him staring at me intently.

"Well…"

"Well?" I'm going to be a stubborn bastard on purpose. A dying man has to get his kicks somehow, right?

"Well, you're all weak and shaking, it doesn't look normal…"

"No, I suppose not."

"So what's wrong?" An idea crawls into my mind and I can't resist it. Like I said: kicks.

"Actually I do have this strange pain…" I grimace in an effort to keep from grinning.

"What's it like?"

"It's about twenty-two years old, has green eyes and black _ouf_." I'm cut short as Harry jinxes me with the equivalence to a punch to the stomach.

"You asshole! This isn't a joke, something really does look wrong!" He sends to more two more punches at me sulkily with his wand.

"Ow, really Harry, that's no way to treat a dying man." Oh fuck…

Harry's eyes widen and I realise I've blown it. "What did you say?"

"I, uh, that is…" Bugger, bugger, sodding… ah! I couldn't just keep my mouth shut? I had to bait him and now…

"Tell me what's going on!" He demands, looking horrified.

"Or what?"

His face heats up somewhat in his anger. Like a pool of oil, I can feel all the emotions swirling inside him. Anger, frustration, worry, determination, panic… My head is heavy with them. Need has begun to burn a whole through my stomach.

"Alright! Alright! Just calm the fuck down! Do you realise how hard you're making things for me?" The nerves on my face feel like tingling fingers on my skin.

He looks slightly embarrassed as he nods and starts to relax. The loss of heat against my vampiric senses is almost as bad as their presence. My whole body is limp as I keep all my concentration on control.

"Why did you say you were dying?"

"Because I am." I hold up hand defensively against the stricken expression on his face. "No, don't do that. You came here because Severus sent you here with a message."

I stop as I brood about that prick move on Snape's part.

"Yeah…" He's waiting for the rest.

"Oh, yeah… the message was that 'today is sixty'. Basically I got stuck with a really shitty set of rules when I got bitten by… uh, my maker." Let's not spill _all_ the beans, shall we?

"I can't go sixty days without feeding… it's basically the same as starving to death."

"Oh." The pity in his voice sets my teeth on edge. "You're starving? No wonder you've been…" I can hear his determination rising. "Just hold on, though. When the sun comes up again we'll find you some blood. It'll be alright. Everything will be fine."

Those four moronic words are like gasoline on my temper.

"NO! Don't you fucking get it? Nothing is going to be fine! I'm cursed, Harry. My maker hated me, so I'm cursed. Today is sixty… and when the sun hits this room and unlocks it on sixty-one, that's it! I die there and then… unless I make a kill. Everything is HORRIBLE! The only chance I have to live is by killing you, which is not happening! But do I get to die in a dignified silence? No! Of course not! You need to pester me and worry and pry until the truth is ripped out. Well you've got it now. Much good may it bloody well do you."

As I take a moment to take a breath, Harry says quietly: "If you hate me as much as you seem to, why all the restraint?"

"Hate you? I hate that you couldn't get out of the fucking room when I told you to! I hate that you put us here. You put us in this position for the sake of your bloody curiosity! There are no options or discussion left. This room holds no loopholes among its locks. I am going to die and you are going to watch. You're going to watch and I can't stop any of it. Merlin, Harry! I don't hate you, I…"

I can't say anything, not now that this all we will have.

"I want you to _live_." I finish pathetically. My eyes have found the floor extremely fascinating. I don't want to see his reaction, I refuse to know…

Bugger. The added salt that joins the air announces itself. I can feel the tears as if they were running down my own face. As if fingers roughly scraped them from underneath _my _eyes.

The thoughts running in his mind are so fierce, so close to the surface that I can actually hear them. **Don't… keep calm… he needs you to be calm. **

Much to my surprise, his feelings are lessening.

"He cursed you…"

"What?" I catch his whisper, but not his meaning.

"You said your maker cursed you. Why? Who was he?"

"Ugh, can't you give it a rest Harry? What difference does it make now?"

"It makes quite a difference, as he's still alive." The bitter anger in his voice encourages more waves of pain, which I could have I sworn I was suppressing.

"_And who knows, maybe one day it'll get the better of you and some vengeance-drugged lover will seek me out. Do tell your dearest love, for I would so enjoy drink to the last beats of her heart." _

Daniel has no idea how close he was to the truth.

Harry is getting more suspicious as I refuse to answer. I try to edge as far away from him as I can.

Shit. This room is NOT big enough.

And then it hits me: it doesn't matter. If Daniel is looking for me or anyone else, he'll find them. The least I can do before I, er… _go_ is give Harry a fair warning.

"Um, Harry?" I try to sound casual while maintaining this nine foot gap between us.

"Yes?"

"There's something that I haven't told you."

And for once, he doesn't look at all surprised.

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AN: Icky! I don't really like this chapter! Pulls hair I'm having some serious doubts here, so please confirm or deny them.

In less words… REVIEW.

Next chapter: **This is my half.**


	5. This is my half

**You Blood Stupid Bastard**

**Chapter 5: This Is My Half**

AN: Allo all! I am back and I've brought the next chapter with me! Huzzah.

It made me so happy last time, to see all those little reviews lined up in my inbox! I hope that anyone who reads this chapter will do me the same kindness again. It puts the fizzies in my ginger ale.

I would like to say that I wasn't fishing last time. Breaks pole in half I just like to share how I feel about the chapter. THIS time, I'd like to say that I feel that the chapter is a bit sappy.

I'd also like to mention that since I'm posting it this way, I don't care especially.

So long live the sap of chapter 5!

Thanks for coming out, readers… on with the fic!

* * *

I just spent around half an hour explaining Daniel to him. Needless to say, it uncovered quite a few lies. Well, that couldn't really be helped.

I had to tell that him that _no_ actually, my vampirism wasn't an accident. I was looking for them. (I was sick of the human race and… everything. Vampirism really brings the fun back into death.) That I sought out a vampire in the woods where they were rumoured to gather. And that I found Daniel.

Daniel, for the record, is a piece of work. A right asshole. He had a hard time when he was younger… a bad relationship, a mentoring vampire who turned away from him… and now he takes it out on anyone who comes his way.

I also told him that I actually had no clue if he could become a vampire or not because I have no memory of how I became one myself. When he mentioned the popular "blood swapping" belief, I told him sourly that vampirism wasn't a disease… officially.

At one point he tried to ask me why Snape was counting my days for me. I wanted to say 'none of your fucking business' but I settled on sidetracking him instead… I told him about Daniel's threat.

And now…

Now I'm really afraid.

Because although I'm too weak to read his mind, I've been watching the cogs turning behind that scar-head of his.

And even though I'm too weak to read his mind, I know exactly what he's thinking.

We're both standing at this point, me with some difficulty. We've been pacing around the edge of the room, always at opposites. I might normally find this an amusing image… if I weren't slowly starving to death, that is.

He was staring out the window before, with a look… a look of almost painful realisation. I wish I could remember some school child jinx that would keep him from speaking.

"Bite me." It isn't said the way you normally hear it. I know exactly what he means.

But that doesn't mean I have to act like it.

"Hmpf, well fuck you too, Potter. I thought we had managed to start a civil conversation… but I suppose not."

He rolls his eyes at me and begins to walk across the room. "You _know_ that's not what I meant, Draco. You need blood to live through tonight… take mine."

Don't do this to me Harry, don't make this hurt anymore than it has to.

"No. I won't do it… I already told you that." It's… it's more than that… I _can't_. Killing him would kill me anyway. I die either way. The only question in my mind is how much do I suffer before I go?

He's standing right in front of me now, tears falling down his face. They are so quick and steady that I'm not even sure if he knows he's crying. He lifts a hand to my shoulder, squeezing lightly.

"Please… drink my blood. It's- it's yours. I give it to you freely._ Drink_."

For a moment, the only response I can muster is a helpless groan. My stomach is on fire and I find myself growing incredibly dizzy as he undoes the first button on his shirt. His neck and collar are showing and they look so… ready.

"Take it." He says, hammering my resolve so flat it's a wonder I haven't already killed him.

I want to take everything he's offering me… as well as the things he isn't.

"No…" I put my hands in front of my face. "Let me go… stop offering me this… do you even understand what you're- oh, just stop it, I'm begging you…"

I must be weak… I'm bloody begging… _again._

He's being stupid and stubborn again. Standing there, _demanding _that I drain him. He's too busy doing this that he doesn't even realise how much he's hurting me. He pulls my hands down from my face.

"I won't stop! Not when there's something I can do to help you. And don't know if you expected me to just sit quiet and watch you die, but I won't do it!"

And he, oh god… in the heat of his outburst he grabs my head and brings my face to his neck.

The blood is mine.

The blood is willing.

I can feel the pulsing warmth of his skin against my lips, my fangs are stretching under my lip and… it's over- it's all over.

It almost was.

I push Harry away from me with so much force he flies across the room, hitting the desk and falling to the floor. My fangs have fully extended and my instincts make me bare them viciously in Harry's direction. Every inch of my body is screaming for a kill…

But… I've worked too hard already.

I take my wand and draw a line through the middle of the room. It glows with on the dull grey stones. I nearly give myself a haemorrhage… but I also manage to soothe my bloodlust. There, I've bought myself some more time… maybe even the rest of the night, if I'm lucky.

"This is my half. You won't be able to cross."

"Huh?" Harry is pulling himself into a sitting position. He's slightly stunned from the speed of what just happened. (Not to mention slowly starting to feel all the places where he'll be bruised from hitting the desk.)

"I've put a barrier across the floor. Remember fourth year at school? And that Goblet? Try and cross that line and you'll be repelled with the same amount of force as you used to cross it." My voice is hollow as I explain this. I feel… sore, like I was the one who was flung into a desk.

He nods sadly as I turn my back on him. The barred window is high. The land before it is weedy and unkempt. It stretches away from stone walls of the castle until it reaches the forest. From this side, the trees look tame…harmless… maybe even inviting.

It can surprise you sometimes, how deceiving a thing can be.

"You're really mad now, eh?" From the sound of his voice, I can tell Harry isn't as hurt as he could have been. Well! What is that supposed to mean, Draco? The worst he could have been hurt is **dead**.

"I… no, not really." I thought I was. I thought I was furious with him for his foolish bravado. But as soon as he said it… I realised that that wasn't how I felt. I realised that I'm not really feeling at this point. I only have the energy to exist. That's a big enough task on its own.

"I'm sorry I did that, Draco. It was selfish of me. I- I guess I didn't think how hard I was making things and I should've stopped to think and I really…" He's started rambling. It takes him a few moments to realise it, but when he does he says; "oh hell, I'm just sorry… will you forgive me?"

I don't turn around, but I can feel the blush fill his face. There are some words that you can't replace with anything else. Words that are going to embarrass you, and there's nothing for it.

The air is getting colder. I don't feel a wind, exactly, but the cool air is seeping into the room all the same.

I stand at the window. The silence seems almost soothing to me.

Neither of us says anything for a long time… until:

"I love you."

* * *

Ta dah! Another chapter down! (Yeah, I have all the chapters planned out, so I feel very proud of my pacing skills.)

Next chap: **Whose decision is this?**

Thanks for reading.

I'll see you next time.

-Sike


	6. Whose decision is this

**You Bloody Stupid Bastard**

**Disclaimer: see other chapters or cut down the tallest tree in the forest with a herring!**

**Chapter 6: Whose decision is this? **

Chapter AKA: the chap of sap

It arrives without excuses and very little introduction:

* * *

"_I love you."_

I turn away from the window, looking directly at him. I had a feeling that one of us was going to say it, but I hadn't expected it to be this soon.

I don't feel as prepared with a comeback as I usually do.

"So?" I see him trying to hide his shock, perhaps even hurt? I don't know. It doesn't matter. I remember one of the most important things Daniel ever said to me: _There is a difference between loving someone… and telling them you love them. _

It was a decoration to his apology… or perhaps an expression of his guilt, but it isn't true. Is it really possible to love someone and forget that they exist for five years? No.

"_So _I actually care about what happens to you."

I notice that we've unconsciously begun to walk towards each other again. It's as if we can't cope with keeping our distance. He's standing right in front of me _again_, we're only separated by a pathetic little glowing white line. Fuck, I swear I'm cursed!

It occurs to me that maybe he only said he loves me because he wants to hear _me_ say it. Wants the last of my secrets before I die.

"And what do I care about then?" The air is getting colder again. It has the distinct smell of winter in it… and I wonder where the fall has gone. I can detect it, but it doesn't really trouble me. I'm far beyond hypothermia at this point.

Harry shrugs. "I'm not really sure. I thought you cared about me… you said you didn't hate me. Maybe this sixty-thing has just taken a hold on you and you haven't the strength to take my blood."

Before he said that, I might not have had the strength…  
Mind you, before he said that I might not have thought I was so proud.

If I was going to live through this night, I would probably describe how I reached across the barrier and lifted him up by the collar of his shirt and scared the crap out of Harry…

Which might've happened.

And yet I find myself on the floor.

"Bugger."

A hand shakes my shoulder before breaking contact so fast it feels like the hand was wrenched away from me.

Obviously, because it was.

"Draco? Draco!"

I look to my left to find myself staring up Harry's nose.

"Ugh, not so close!"

He backs away. Damn it, Harry!

"You did it _again,_ you know." I push myself into a sitting position. My body is so stiff… I feel like I'm going to shrivel right up without any blood.

"I know."

"Why?"

I can feel the restraint on his emotions so vividly… I imagine it as a band of wrought iron wrapped around his chest.

"I wanted you to attack me." Paced breaths heaving against his own restraints. Good man, just stay exactly like that… for the next five hours or so.

"What the hell? Whose decision is this?" He opens his mouth to speak. "Don't. Don't you goddamn dare suggest that this is in anyway your choice! This is my fault and Severus's... that asshole. Besides, you're not the one who would feel the effects. You have ­_no idea_ what it's like to take a life."

A scowl flickers on the edges of Harry's face. "No, I don't. You and Snape are the ones with that kind of expertise."

I become so still that for a second, I can't even feel the pain rooted into my system.

Son of a bitch.

"I can't believe you. This has nothing to do with the past." Like earlier, everything in me is geared towards resisting that living, pulsing, temptation with his warm, soft, neck still exposed… FOCUS! … Anyway, my conversation skills aren't at their best.

"Bullshit! Turning from good, going to evil, to Snape, succumbing to vampirism… that doesn't seem linked to you at all?"

Here it comes…

"Severus and I weren't together! Are you retarded? I told you that!"

"He's evil!"

"You did what he told you to, you gave me his message."

"I did it to help you!"

It seems like the same shouting match we had along a floo channel… one month after the funeral at Hogwarts.

"And _he_ wanted to help me too. How can you hate him?"

"He killed Dumbledore!"

"Of course he did, he made an unbreakable vow! It was the right action."

"And you ran off with him."

"Yes, to watch him kill Voldemort!"

"And that makes Dumbledore's death excusable, does it?" His emotions are leaking from the small crack in his resolve. My body is swooning for a taste, but thankfully the exhaustion from simply sitting here and arguing is keeping me docile.

"Harry, it was a damn neutralization. They both had to go or one side would've just elected a successor and flared right up again!"

"That's insane. Killing on both sides doesn't fix things!"

"The dying stopped."

"And?"

"And I came back."

"You came back a killer, a death eater."

I spit towards the barrier, the projectile hits and bounces away to hit the floor on my side.

"That's filth. I killed people who got in Severus's way. I followed the plan. But did you even care about me? No." Harry looks pained, but I can't stop now. If it's all being laid down, then it's my turn.

"You said we were lost the moment he died. I screamed at you, I ripped the sleeve from my robe. It was gone, wasn't it? All those who weren't legitimate followers found the mark had left them. The mark became dust! It blew away with the wind. But you couldn't be convinced."

"Draco," Harry began wearily, "I know this, please don't…"

"I couldn't make you see it. I couldn't make you see anything. Did you already know? Were you aware that you were the one running away with people?"

He bows his head. I can feel him trembling, but my heartbreak is pushing me over my physical reactions.

"Not even people… ghosts! Your mother and father… you couldn't love them and let them rest. You had to pull at them all the time, knowing they weren't coming back. I remember all those stories you told me. Dreams and delusions. You always thought about their deaths and the terrible sacrifice. What about the fact that they loved you? That your parents even cared about you … let alone died for you? And Sirius Black! You hated him with a blind passion until you learned the truth about him. _I_ never got that kind of chance with you. So you loathed him then loved him then grieved for him. You spent months unable to let go of yet another man you barely knew!"

"…enough, enough…" Harry mutters. He finds his own half-confessions too strong, thrown back in his face.

"When I came back, you said that you would need time to trust me again. I hadn't guessed that you meant you would need time before you spoke to me again. So I was cut off, while you only had eyes for a ghost. Your ghost, your martyr, a man sleeping in his portrait that never woke up for anyone! I couldn't stand to watch it, I had to leave."

My reflexes are trying to prod me, trying to alert my attention to something. It's no use; I can't spare any attention from Harry.

"I left. I didn't leave _you_. I retreated with the intention of talking to you when you would listen! But a year of indifference was too cold for me, Harry. I turned to escaping from you. And… well, you know about Daniel now."

This quiet is too horrible. I want something out of him, even hate. Bring back those sobs that stabbed at me… just don't leave me in this quiet.

"I had no idea…" Harry says softly. "I couldn't see straight, Draco. If your heart breaks over someone you really love, you can't- I didn't imagine how much it could ruin a person. Hope is impossible. I thought my heart would kill me."

"Do you think mine hasn't broken as well?"

Harry's heart gives a jolt as we lock eyes.

Am I about to speak… or is he?

Bam  
Bam  
Bam!

The door beats us to it.

* * *

Oh, you think you know what's going to happen, but oh no, you're wrong!

Okay, excuse me.

Love?

Hate?

Want to give Draco a smack in the face?

That I leave to you… though I beg for a review

Check it, I'm a poet and I didn't know it!

Chapter 7: knock knock

Later,

-Sike


	7. Knock Knock

**Disclaimer**: (Decode the following:) d In oto wot neh aHrrP ytoetb roosk.

AN: Why good day to all. Another bit of fine weather has appeared for fic writing... so here I am. I appreciate all of your imput - it makes me gleeful. Absolutely chalk full o' glee!

But you know what would make things better? Grease up the old fingers?(Don't think that way RF/AB/SD... you know who you are.) I think it I'd like it if maybe a few of you checked out some of my other work. Pwease?

Ahem... enough with the self promotion... on with the fic!

* * *

Chapter 7: **Knock Knock**

We are rooted to the floor… Harry standing and me sitting weakly , propped up against the wall, waiting for a voice to penetrate the thick wooden door. There's no one. But there has to be, I'm not so starved that I'm hallucinating, am I?

Harry looks from me to the door, caught between my words and the unexpected interruption. The loudest noise I can hear is Harry's teeth as they chattered uncontrollably from the cold.

The outsider's hand knocks on the door again, twice.

"Who's there?" I call out.

"It's Severus." My friend answers distinctly. I see Harry grin and I have no idea why he's so amused.

"Severus who?" He asks. What the hell?

"Shut up, Potter." Severus snaps. Did he understand that?

"What-"

"It's… a muggle thing." Severus says tersely. "Now, I'd like to-"

"Explain why you sent Harry here?" My voice has started to fade, but I know that my tone delivers my full meaning. "Sent him to certain death, knowing all the while how hard you were making things for me? Yes I think now would be a good time to tell me why you're letting me die accompanied by two different sorts of torture which are ripping me apart!"

There is an audible sigh from the other side of the door. "Draco… you've got it wrong. I'm as much your friend as ever. I did what was best for you."

"What was best? I trusted you with all my secrets, and this is the best scenario you could come up with?"

"What would you have done different?" Severus retorts.

"You could have owled me!"

"Something got into my owelry at home. All three of my owls have been eaten by some animal."

"What?"

"Never mind. So I didn't… have time to send word to you earlier. I have been having trouble lately… by the time Harry came I was desperate."

Harry? That sounds oddly informal.

"But why did you send for him?" I demand.

"He arrived a whole week late. When he finallyappeared there was no other choice. Initially, I had simply thought it was time you two were on speaking terms again."

"Certainly Severus… because you are, after all, a recognized matchmaker."

"That's not what I meant, as you know very well. I have always tried to protect you in anyway I could."

My throat is tight, and it has nothing to do with my thirst.

"Then you should have protected _him_." I can feel Harry crying. How many times is that tonight? And what does he have to cry over now?

"Draco," Severus says tiredly, "Harry chose to help you. He knew what he was doing."

"No. No that's a lie and you won't convince me otherwise. He had no idea what he was walking into. He came here out of pure concern."

"Oh?" Severus says thoughtfully, "Is that what you believe? Harry didn't know about your vampirism, I kept your secrets. But he knew the consequences nonetheless. Would you care to repeat what I told you, Harry?"

Harry's back is turned to me. He mumbles to the ground, but my hearing is acute enough to pick up every word.

"He asked if I would give my life to save yours. I didn't hesitate for a second… so he gave me the message."

I pull myself up from the floor, leaning against the wall to keep steady. We're both trembling now, for different reasons.

"Harry, come here." I say dryly, letting the barrier between us fall away.

Severus is silent. Harry walks towards me, not even bothering to fight tears anymore. When he reaches me, I lift my hand…

"Draco…" And strike him across the face.

He stumbles back in shock, gripping his jaw. I've fallen to the ground again. It was a weak blow, but it was all the strength I have.

"You bastards!" Somehow, I find myself able to scream. It's ripping the hell out my throat, but then so are my uncontrollable sobs. "You bloody… stupid… BASTARDS! Why did this happen!"

Oh… oh damn it. I'm so very dizzy… and disgusted. I can't stop. I can't stop this horrible out pouring of emotions. I don't want them to see this… to pity me.

I've lost. I wanted to right everything, instead I've doomed myself. I can't take Harry's life… I won't- so I have to die. But… but I'll then never see him again, no matter what. Wherever I find myself after death, I'll be in hell. I think… I might…

I love him too much to be pulled away from him.

Arms wrap around my chest, holding me from behind. My fingers dig weakly into the floor as my tears slowly relent. Gods… I'm so dry that the tears from eyes are without a trace of blood.

"How is he?" Comes Severus's voice from the door.

"I don't know." I can hearHarry'd words echo inside my skin. "Draco?" He whispers in my ear.

"I'm tired. Tired in every possible way." I turn in Harry's hold. "And you… you're going to freeze to death before I even die… aren't you?"

His mouth stretches in a weak smile. "Of-of course not." He says between shivers.

"Here," I say. I guide his head to rest on my shoulder. We are perfect for a few moments, before Harry gives a jolt in surprise.

"You're skin is icy! I felt it happen!"

I take hold of his hand. "I can't warm you up, but I can absorb the cold for you."

"Shouldn't you-" Harry manages to get out before I cut him off.

"No…" I explain in a faint voice. "Whatever it is, I can't do it. I don't think I'm in any physical pain anymore… but that's irrelevant. There's too much in the air, sneaking its way into my mind. Your pain, my pain, Severus's anxiety… it's too much to absorb. I just want to sleep through this night. I'll wake just before sunrise to say good-bye…"

"Don't so dramatic," he says, "you've got to pretend like everything will be fine. Crying doesn't suit you Draco…" his voice almost breaks, "don't you have some blind bravado in you somewhere?"

We can't keep talking like this… it's insanity.

"Severus, aren't you going to comment on our drivel?" I inquire in a desperate attempt to seek gallows humour.

The absence of a response is so deafening that I can barely think.The thought at the back of my mind has returned.

I can't rid myself of the notion that there is something I have overlooked… something gravely important.

"Bloody hell…" The words are whispered through the door.

"I'm sorry about this Draco, I really am" Severus says, louder now, and hurriedly. "I had no intention of bringing this about. It seemed like such a dreadful accumulation of misfortunes before, but now…"

Severus stops suddenly. There is a loud thud… I think something has struck the door.

"Now," he's wheezing… what's going on?"I think I understand what happened."

There is another, more forceful strike on the door. A man, Severus I think, grunts in pain. There are more rapid noises… rustling, knocks and the sound of boots kicking the door.

Crack!

The snap is dreadful… it's accompanied by a savage scream of agony.

There is a final, weak thud against the stones from the hall. Harry's fear and confusion are palpable… his hand grips mine tightly.

"What happened?" I call out.

nothing…

"What happened!"

"Oh, I'm afraid you've got other things to worry about." Says the cruel voice of my sire.

"Daniel"!

* * *

AN: I know I know…. Sap factor… but that's what happens when you give away details. 

Well, I'd love to get some feedback, to know how it went…

See you later, my lovelies!

-Sike

**Chapter 8: **While these visions did appear.


	8. It's a conundrum

Disclaimer: I had a good one, but then my internet was mean to me. So refere to another chapter

A/N: Hello chappies! I am feeling as happy as claustrophobe in an open field! Wheeheee! because V for Vendetta is the best movie ever! I love V. He is a vibrantly valiant and vivdly valorous vainquisher of the villainous! runs off to play the 1812 overture

Heh, excuse me, I obsess much.

Here you my darlings:

* * *

Chapter 8 : **It's a conundrum **

* * *

There may be several other flashy quips that Daniel wants to add to his entrance, but I am not about to give him the opportunity. 

"What did you do to him?" My voice is the loudest I can make it... considering that I'm in a crumpled heap on the floor, it isn't very commanding. "What did you do, you slimy git!"

"Oh, me?" Daniel says archly. I can almost see the smug expression that must be on his face. "Nothing! I've never even seen this man in my life…"

"Bullshit!" Damn it! He wants to toy with me: control me and drag out as much pain as he possibly can. The thing is, I can't do anything about it if I want to find out what he's planning.

"How dare you challenge my honour?" He says with mock hurt. "I said 'in my life'. Now since I died I've put quite a lot of work into following those you care about. It seemed to me that this wizard was expendable to you anyway… Kept a bit out of touch over the last sixty days, haven't we?"

'_my owls have been eaten by some animal'…_

Oh shit. Severus…

"I'm going to see you burn, you fucking street scum!"

I can feel Harry's anxiety building. He'll have to manage it by himself…

"Street scum?" There's genuine anger in his tone. "Do I need to remind you of the fact that I am your-"

"Don't you dare say 'sire'!" My anger is burning away the pain I should be feeling about losing Severus. "I said vampirism was a gift, so you were determined to torture the idea out my head? I wanted a chance to find a real mentor, instead of bitter child, so you waste a divine wish on cursing me? You were my betrayer, not my sire."

"YOU HAVE NO IDEA WHAT IT'S LIKE TO BE BETRAYED!" Daniel's voice thunders through the stones. "You know nothing of the life I led before your time!"

I scoff, almost without meaning to.

"The life you led before my time? Stop putting on that affected manner! Does that bloody bilge work on anyone? I know all about you. Severus-" no—don't think. "he told all me about you. You're a foreign layabout… from the smog of that Canadian city… Toronto. You never knew who bit you, did you? Then our **god**, the vampire who existed before the bloody **earth** tries to guide you and he leaves you for screwing up! It wasn't betrayal, you were too proud to take his advice! What are you so damn proud of? You're a North American mudblood, you have no powers, no connections… you're not even a decent vampire!"

"A typical attitude for such a raw vampire..." Daniel mutters resentfully.

Raw? "What are you talking about? You were turned at seventeen! Anyway, you've only got three more blood-years than I do!" And despite the ticking clock on my life, I found myself able to smile. "I was always scared of what you would do if you found someone I cared about…and those fears have come to life… but do you know what's going on in the back of my mind? I'm trying to figure out how you even found me and Harry in the first place."

"Harry… yes, I had almost forgotten about him..."

His anger is gone… he sounds almost elated. I'm starting to feel very nervous.

"Let me ask you something Draco… were you under the impression that I came here alone? I'm so sorry, if I've mislead you."

Fuck. "I'm assuming if there is anyone else here, that they're goons and not comrades." I try to appear calm.

"But not just any goons..." Daniel says dreamily. "Vampires who have a bone to pick with wizards. There are plenty of us who don't appreciate being labelled in their texts as savage _creatures_, instead of people. I've found enough who love to destroy the lives of a few self-righteous wizards."

I can feel dignity and bravery rising inside Harry. Oh, please don't-

"What makes you think that I won't burn every one of you?" His voice is a brutal attack next to mine's weak sparring. The wonders of blood. "You may be people, but your powers can't save you from wizard's fire."

"Ah." Daniel said knowingly. "You haven't looked out the window yet."

I try to make him stay, but my strength at this point is non-existent. Harry rises from the floor without even realising that I tried to stop him.

Shivering as the cold returns to him, Harry goes to the window. He seems to looking down, where the door is on the ground floor.

"Harry!" My concern comes out of its own will as he sways a little on his feet. He comes back and sits with me, shuddering until I put my arm around him, stealing the cold from his body.

"Eight of them." Harry says quietly. "Waiting outside."

"What?" I say, confused.

"Death Eaters." Daniel quips in helpfully. "And twelve more amongst my immortal friends, they fill up the stairs quite better than I would have hoped." I can feel another smug grin on his face during his pause. "Just more people who have been kind enough to carry a grudge."

So he's got a shit-load people on his side. What's the point? He didn't need them to crawl up and kill my friend from behind.

I can feel my consciousness weakening. It isn't death… not yet, but my energy has deteriorated to the point where I would just like to collapse into sleep. Drift off and let the pain wait until daybreak. But I can't. I have to extract the point from Daniel's conceited rambling. No rest for the weary…

"You and your mighty gang are here to… Gods, what is it you want?" I ask him.

"All I want is to make you miserable. To see you suffer for the last time."

"How?" I swear if I ever torment someone in another life, I'll get to the bloody point within five minutes! What torture could he possibly inflict on me that would be worse than this?

"Though you're not yet aware that you-"

"GET ON WITH IT!" I cry. Why does that sound so familiar?

"You've got a choice to make in that room." Daniel says curtly. "You can die or you can take the human's life-blood and survive."

"Well, obviously, you stupid-"

"However!" He cuts in. "Whoever makes it past sunrise, will be tortured and killed as soon as the door comes unlocked."

"You don't want to kill me, but you don't want them to hurt me instead." Harry's words burn my ears.

"It's a conundrum." Daniel declares proudly. "I'm going to go take a walk… don't worry, I'll be back in a few hours for the final moments of life. See you later, pal."

He deliberately lets us here his footsteps walking away from the door… and then trotting down the stone steps.

It's official: the Gods are in on this. Those bastards.

I look to my left to find Harry staring at me.

"So what do we do?" He asks me. As if I had any idea.

"You are going to sleep with me." I can see white all the way around Harry's eyes. "That's not what I mean."

I pull Harry closer while he recovers from shock. I start to let my fatigue take over. The pain lessens as the tower grows fainter.

"But- mmm." Harry's bloody question is silenced. Maybe he's tired too… or maybe I just decided to help him get tired. I'm a vampire, thrall is what I do.

"Just sleep… we'll figure it out… in the morning."

E'er shall it in safety rest  
And the owner of it blest.  
Trip away:  
Make no stay:  
Meet me all by break of day.

* * *

A/N: Well that's it. Thank you for your time. I hope you don't feel like the chap should be longer. It's all in the pacing, trust me.

By the by: I would appreciate it if more of you who read reviewed. I'm not looking for praise, just thought.

Thank you.

-Sike


	9. Obligatory Dream Sequence

Disclaimer: Aw, come on now, don't be a jackass…

**A/N: I live! Do I have any readers left? whimper**

* * *

Chapter 9 : Obligatory Dream Sequence 

(Excerpt from "Dream Within a Dream")

Take this kiss upon the brow!  
And, in parting from you now,  
Thus much let me avow-  
You are not wrong who deem  
That my days have been a dream;  
Yet if hope has flown away  
In a night, or in a day,  
In a vision, or in none,  
Is therefore the less gone?  
_All _that we see or seem  
Is but a dream within a dream.

-Edgar Allan Poe

I am standing.  
Not a great deal of detail, I know, but this at least I am sure of.

In a room? Maybe. Everything is far too hazy for me to make out. I try to walk and find it takes forever to move a few steps. It's as if the ground is both sliding and gripping at my feet. I can only think of one reason why traction would cease to exist… I must be dreaming.

Unless, of course, I'm already dead.

I don't hear any maniacal laughter, or feel any flames… so I'll assume this is a dream.

"So this is the guy."

I spin around. There's a man standing a few feet away, he stands out clearly from the haze. A small black kitten rubs against his leg, purring.

"The guy?" He comes closer, and I realize that I'm taller than he is. I can see the top of his head; he has blond roots showing in his onyx-black hair.

"Draco. Young vamp, cursed, black belt in the ancient art of angst…" He seems disappointed when I don't laugh with him.

"Yes. I'm Draco."

"Smith?" He asks. What? Am I on some sort list?

"Malfoy."

"Good, just testing…" He smiles amiably and I catch a hint of fang.

"Who are you… and if you don't have a purpose, you can get out of my dream."

"Mike." He doesn't seem fazed by my rudeness.

" Smith?"

"Just Mike."

The kitten leaps across the room and sinks its claws into my leg. It growls and starts chewing through my trousers.

"Ah! Damn it!" I kick with my leg but the beast only grips tighter.

"Tetanus, stop that!" Mike's voice is light as he scolds his kitten.

"Brrrt?" Tetanus lets go and disappears into the haze. Mike turns back to me, his face sober.

"Draco, do you have prophetic dreams?" He asks.

"Uh… no." Wizards tend to glean thoughts, not see the future…

"Well, you do now."

The foggy atmosphere dissipates and I find that Mike and I are standing in the tower room.

The door is unlocked in a permanent sort of way that involves splintered wood and a missing doorknob. The only person in the room lies face down just underneath the window. A cloak, of strictly functional make, covered in old dark stains (and newer, spattered ones) has been carefully arranged over the head and shoulders of the body.

The longer that body lies there, the less I feel like knowing its identity.

Come on! Calm down. It could be **anyone**. It's a dream, Mike said so himself. It could be Crabbe for all I know.

Yes, I like the sound of that. It's definitely Crabbe lying there.

Under Severus's cloak…

"Oh, Draco…"

"What?"

"You've— um, got a little something there… on your lip."

Before I can react to this, I suddenly become aware of what it would feel like to be one of Pavlov's dogs.

No you prat, it isn't drool.

Blood pours uncontrollably from my mouth, running down my chin and drenching my clothes. I try to swallow it back or keep my mouth shut but this only makes me choke and spew up pink froth for my trouble.

"Wa- (gargle—choke—foam—spit—bubble—gargle—cough—cough—cough) ung?"

Translation: What the shagging, bleeding fuck is happening?

Mike is slow to react. He calmly reaches into his pocket and removes a delicate white handkerchief. I move to take it from him, and he withdraws.

"No no— wait 'til you've finished."

So I stand there, slightly bent over to avoid further mess and wait for the bloody flow to cease. Eventually, there's little more than a leaky tap's worth escaping, and I can safely swallow it back.

"Well that looked like fun." Mike remarks.

"You know what? Fuck you." He steps forward and I flinch, expecting retaliation. Instead, he takes the handkerchief and begins to wipe my face like some doting mother.

"Cool it, kid… I'm not the wrathful type. I have a habit of making light of ghastly situations." He's finished cleaning my chin and moves on to the front of my shirt. "Anyway, it was refreshing…"

"What was?"

"Nobody I know ever insults me. _Ever_. I haven't received hostility from another person in a long time."

"Uh, right then…" I glance down at my shirt. "Antichrist! How did you do that?"

There isn't a drop of blood left on me. A feat I believed impossible without first dumping a number ten cauldron full of water on me. On top of that, the kerchief is bleach-white.

"It's a good hanky." Mike says affectionately.

"I'm sure… shall we?"

We leave the tower and begin to descend the spiral staircase. Normally it would take a few minutes to reach the ground, walking at our casual pace.

Almost an hour later… I think it's safe to say that we're walking on imaginary stairs.

"Bloody—dream—steps—and—their—never—ending—ness." I grumble, my words matching each step as I lumber on. There should be five doors to pass before the ground… five! I've seen nearly thirty, and they keep coming!

"Yes… it sure stinks of prophetic metaphor, doesn't it?" Mike sniffs a few times to underline is words.

"I suppose you would know, being a metaphorical dream character and all…"

"I resent that!"

"Why?"

"Just because you know you're dreaming, you automatically write me off as a figment of your imagination!"

"Yeah?"

"And I'm not!"

"Said the man inhabiting my dream."

He gives me a narrowed-eyes look, and crosses his arms; the picture of juvenility.

"For someone who recently spewed blood like they were Linda Blair, you don't seem very concerned about your future anymore."

"Linda Blair?"

"See!"

"What? Can't a wizard suppress the knowledge of an imminent fate of physical and emotional torture? That's why I opted to sleep the night away in the first place. Then you and your dream-world hand me prophetic visions."

"I'm real! I exist!" Mike insists.

"Are you sure?"

"Of course I am!"

"Maybe your existence is merely foreshadowing some upcoming event…"

"And maybe you are— uh, maybe you're 'merely' whistling your years away in some dark, dingy asylum built in the nineteenth century."

uh…

"Okay… if you exist, then where do you live?"

"Kingston."

"You mean Kingston upon Thames? In Greater London?"

"It's not upon anything… and it's in Ontario, Canada."

"Never heard of it." I say in a disinterested voice.

"Ah ha!" If jumping out of your skin was physically possible, then I would've just done it.

"Ah ha?"

"Yes! My Kingston is a real place! You don't know about it and I do! So now you know I'm real."

Mike is smiling proudly, thinking he's proved himself.

"Sure… or my mind is taking real places from England and mixing them with my limited knowledge of Canada."

"That's just insane."

"Is it? Do you have a London and a Stratford over there too?"

"As a matter of fact, yes!"

"Now you're just trying too hard."

We go quiet. I haven't grown tired of these steps, which surprises me. The action of stepping down has become automatic, like breathing used to be. I close my eyes, hypnotizing myself with the endless downward spiral.

------**step  
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**-------------------------------------**step**---**---**-**OOF!**-**---**--door

"No more stairs!" Mike cries out.

"That would have been useful to know before I walked right into the bloody door!"

Ow… skull… send all the king's horses and all the king's men…

The door to the first floor looks as it should: old and warped. Spaces between the planks reveal a flickering green light. It reminds of the old Slytherin days. Ah, nostalgia…

I move to open the door, but Mike stops me.

"Wait. I think this is it, Draco."

"It?"

"The end of your dream. Whatever's in that room, it's the last piece. It'll wake you up. This is where I take my leave."

"Good-bye Mike."

"Yeah, bye… promise to look me up after all this?"

"Mike! A vengeful vampire named Daniel is about to orchestrate my demise. There is no 'after all this'."

Mike's eyes change from warm to cold. He looks away from me, staring hatefully at the wall. Contrary to his word, he starts to look like the wrathful type who might beat me savagely.

I open the door quickly and slip through, closing it behind me. There are candles everywhere, each lit with an emerald flame. And there on the floor—

"Harry!"

I drop down beside him. He's cold. Drained. No no no no no…

I move closer, hiding my face on his shoulder as the weak and pathetic creature I have become. I can't stop it. I can't stop it! It's going to happen and there's nothing I can do. Nothing I can do…

oh shit  
oh damn  
bloody shagging hell  
oh dear gods  
look at you, you've crumbled  
weak gutless bastard  
you're useless  
it's here  
blubbering sap  
tears won't help  
is this it?  
nancy  
weakingly  
worm  
muggle

what the fuck are you doing?

he's gone

he's gone

oh Antichrist

it's over…

My fury duels with my misery until I can barely stand it.

Shaking, I press a kiss to his neck… what?

He's warm!

My hunger pains strike me with the force of a canon. In an action of pure instinct, I open my mouth and dig my fangs savagely into his throat.

A scream sounds out in the lonely room.

When it stops, I catch the sound of a lark singing in the open air.

The herald of the morn.

**

* * *

A/N: cry of unmitigated joy I did it! I did it! It's an update! Ahhhhhh basking... Sorry about the dashes on the staircase, won't let me go space happy. (tear)**

**Don't worry peeps, it's summer vacation time. The next chap is not far away.**

**Cheers**

**-the very pleased Sike**


	10. And lovers will die

**Disclaimer:** If you aren't smart enough to clue in then doom on you. (Doom on you, doom on you, doom on you, doom on you.)

**A/N: **Party! Party time! We've come to the magically important chapter 10! (can I get a WOOT?) I'm so glad that I've finished this chapter. Pick up cray-diddly-ayon and colour me tickled pink!**

* * *

**

Chapter 10: And lovers will die

There is noise, somewhere in the back of my universe, but I take no notice. Perhaps the splintering of wood… what does it matter?

There is no cry of joy that can do justice to this blinding moment of paradise.

Blood! It courses down my throat in a thick, intoxicating stream. It tastes all the more rich and delicious for having gone so long without it.

Cut off from everything except for the pure moment of feeding, I am caught off guard by the withdrawal of my prey from my reach. I snatch forward in an instant too quick for human measure and bite down even harder than before, chewing greedily at the flesh. I draw the blood forth with such need and intensity that my head rushes with the exhilaration.

As I have said before, my desires as both vampire and man have a habit of intermingling. I pull my struggling victim as close to me as I can, craving contact. I bring one of my legs around him, shoving our bodies together. While one hand grips roughly at his neck, the other tears his shirt and runs along his sensual mortal skin. All the heat, adrenaline and panic from this human fills me— revives me— chills me with its intensity. Oh, how I am in love with this moment of primal rapture.

The heart is dying. Its crazed beating stumbles and falls into nothing. I suck at the neck to draw as much as I can before the blood flow becomes little more than a weak trickle. My newfound energy and strength surges inside me and I laugh in celebration. I wipe my mouth on his shirt and begin to lap blood from around the gaping neck wound.

I am in a perfect state.  
I could die now…

I-

I…

Oh, dear infernos of Hell…

I've done it.

I, Draco Malfoy, have killed him. Someone I loved and had been willing to give up my life to save. I wanted so much to be with him… even though I told myself I shouldn't. What am I now? A raving blood-crazy lunatic. It's too much. I can't… I can't…

My writing desk is to my left… I snap a leg off, the perfect tool for a speedy death.

Somewhere underneath this blinding pain, I sense part of me disapproves of my cliché surrender to suicide. I don't care. Every minute my crimes become clearer and clearer in my mind. I can't bear the weight of these hideous thoughts.

I summon every ounce of vampiric strength within me as I drive the shattered wood towards my chest.

SMACK!

A strong blow stops me at the last second. The desk leg bounces onto the floor with a hollow sound.

Daniel! Only vampire could have been so quick. I jump up, but he pins me to the wall.

"Draco, look at me! Draco! Snap out of it!" I blink in confusion and slowly, I begin to see who is really before me.

But…

"I'm still dreaming!" I moan.

"No, no you're not." Severus says sternly, shaking me by the shoulders. "Daniel will be back soon… you have to calm down."

I look into his eyes, trying to ground myself in reality. Suddenly, I understand what this means.

"You're alive!" I cry out, too relieved to care that I'm stating the obvious.

"Well- I'm…" Severus looks away from me and I get a clear view of his neck.

"Oh…" A vampire. I don't know what to say. I'm glad Severus changed, survived… but maybe he's not so pleased about it.

"Yes, it would seem that I've won the ancestral lottery." He says dryly, betraying no emotion.

I wrap my arms around Severus, holding him tightly. I can feel him stiffen against the excessive human contact, but I don't stop. I can't say whether I do this for his benefit, or my own.

"We need to leave." Severus says, edging his way out of my embrace.

"I don't care anymore." My voice comes out hollow. "It doesn't matter."

"Come on!" Severus shouts at me, pulling on my arm.

I throw him off aggressively, as he lurches back I strike him hard in the face.

"No!" My voice comes out in a snarl. My fangs are bared in a grimace of hatred.

Let him go. He may still value his existence, that's fine with me. I, on the other hand, have enough shame and anguish coiled inside that frankly I'd rather have Daniel rip me to pieces.

"You're still not awake, are you? Gods, Draco! Open your eyes!"

"Shut the fuck up!" I scream. "I can see perfectly fine! I can see what I've--"

I break off, looking down at Harry's corpse. Pain surges inside me as I take in the motionless body… the curls of sandy-coloured hair matted with—

My entire body goes so entirely still that rigor mortis could not have improved the effect. I regard the room with new eyes and take in what my mind had written off as delusion.

Harry.

He's standing on the far side of room. He looks desperate, watching me with the hope that I've come to my senses. I take slow steps towards him with the lumbering gait of a sleep walker. The stresses and extremes I've gone through these past minutes have mashed what was left of my heart into putty. I feel if I move any faster he'll disappear like a mirage.

He's holding a bit torn fabric from his sleeve against his neck. I did bite him. But then—oh… that split second I was pulled away…

"Harry?" My hand reaches towards him of its own accord. The numbness to my senses starts to fade and I detect waves of human emotion. Fear.

"You're… you're afraid of me."

He's about to reply—

"GET UP HERE! THEY'RE ALL ALIVE!"

Daniel is in the doorway, yelling at the top of his lungs. In an instant, the room is flooded with vampires and dark wizards. They drag us down the stairs; the mob of captors has more effect on me than the wands pointed at my throat.

When we exit the tower, Harry is thrown roughly to the ground. Unfortunately, Daniel's undead thugs are not completely brainless… Severus and I are held back by four vampires each.

Daniel walks towards Harry and puts one foot on his chest. He notices the bite marks on Harry's neck.

"He would have killed you, you know— if he hadn't been stopped."

He reaches down and wipes some blood from the wound. Daniel then sucks the blood off his own fingers, makes a face, and spits it back out in Harry's face.

"You aren't even worth drinking!" He says in disgust.

"Why don't you and I face off?" I shout out. "Isn't this all about destroying me?"

Daniel turns around. "Well yes, but this way is so much easier. I don't have to gamble on the outcome."

And despite the fact that I couldn't care less about honour, I mutter: "You pathetic, gutless coward."

Daniel smiles at me like we've shared some private joke. "You can torture them now."

* * *

(Two hours later.)

Before this, I would have thought that torture began and ended with the cruciatus curse. That there was nothing more that could be added to the experience to make it any worse than it already was.

There is.

Some of the vampires are very powerful psychics. While the three of us shuddered, twitched and cried out in pain, our minds were wrung through the most horrible visions they could come up with. Terrors that had been dug up from our nightmares and ghastly beasts that seemed to be tearing us apart. They could not create physical pain… but the multiple cruciatus curses more than made up for that. The strangest thing of all is that none of have lost our minds. Maybe we have the psychics to thank.

No one laughed. There was no maniacal rush or mad giggling. No, they enjoyed it on a different level. They kept a smug silence as we writhed in agony… the smiles on their faces gave them a satisfied, peaceful look.

It's over now. I hang limply in the hold of three vampires. At this point they are all that keep me from collapsing onto the ground.

Daniel is beaming. He claps his hands together like a child.

"Wonderful! That was wonderful, everyone, I am very pleased!" He pulls Harry to his feet and props him against the tower wall. Harry sways on his feet, too dazed to react. Daniel backs away and gestures to one of the wizards.

"Kill the human." He says, looking me in the eye.

"Avada Kedavra!"

Holding my full weight, my captors are completely caught off guard when I break away and run towards Harry.

The curse hits me in the chest, just barely below my neck. Brilliant green light flickers in front of my eyes, like thousands of billowing candle flames. I feel my back slam into the ground and then there are hands shaking my shoulders.

The green light is disappearing…

* * *

To the men and vampires on Daniel's payroll, the scene before them is hilarious. They laugh merrily as Harry shakes Draco by the shoulders, his voice raw from shouting the vampire's name.

"Draco! Draco! DRACO!"

Draco's head lolls from side to side, his eyes staring sightlessly at the predawn sky.

* * *

**A/N:** eek! (hides in case of flying objects)


	11. In his Absence

**Disclaimer: **Odds boddikins! Collywobbles. Broo-haha. Heebee-jeebees. Cattywhompus! (must translated with an English-Poppycock dictionary)

**A/N:** Look! I told you that it wasn't over! I have still more to add to this torrent of a tale.

(hee hee… torrent) I shall reveal nothing as to what awaits our dears… but rest assured that it will be clear as crystal when this story is over. I would never have you go mad at guessing that! (Just everything else)

Crystal, I say!

Peace

-Sike

**

* * *

You Bloody Stupid Bastard!**

Chapter 11: **In his Absence**

* * *

"Get him up!" Daniel barks.

Dark wizards and vampires move to obey, but only two of them are needed. Harry offers no resistance.

Daniel passes a hand through his hair in an aggravated gesture. That was not the death he had wished for the object of his loathing. An act of love and self-sacrifice? Ew. Where was the slow, miserable decent into the agonizing depths of oblivion? It was ruined! Completely botched! And all he had left to play with were the leftovers.

"That was quite the demonstration." Daniel picks Draco up by the wrist, holding him as far away as possible… like a piece of garbage. He tosses him over to his henchmen as if he were weightless. The men take turns hitting him in the face and chest, chuckling and shouting like drunkards.

Harry watches this scene impassively; his face is growing pale, his mouth has gone completely dry. His mind pounding into one desperate ideal…

This is a play, a farce! At any moment Draco will bounce to his feet and stupefy all of them. Severus must be aware of this… he can't die, that's insane! Impossible. He's going to come to and get his revenge on Daniel. There's nothing to worry about. This will all be a bad dream. In just a few minutes… yes, in a few minutes' time… a few minutes…

Severus's arms are being twisted in a way that makes even the slightest movement on his part result in unbearable pain. (Not to say that the torture from earlier was bearable. Not in the least.) Harry is swaying like a zombie. To Severus, he looks even further from the living than Draco.

Hmm… Now that's strange.

Severus's youngest friend, ally and (most recently) fellow vampire is dead. Before he even had the chance to live, to become fully aware of himself. He may even have come to his senses, given time, and seen the madness in loving Harry Potter. Instead, his comrade had leapt into death.

But this isn't troubling Severus… which is precisely the trouble. Where is the sadness? The depression? The stunned disbelief? He's standing in an emotional void. He is encased in glass that lets him see the world without feeling its effects. In his cool poise Severus turns to regard Harry, who is shaking with silent sobs.

When the game of violent overkill winds down Daniel seems a little happier, but also a little bored.

"Oh, just kill them. Make a bloody mess." He says in flat voice.

An eager wizard advances on Harry, a twisted blade materializing in his hand. He raises his arm, ready to slam the knife into the young man's chest—

"I must say, it's a bit shorter than I expected." A man's voice calls out lightly. He trots towards the murderous gathering.

Everyone has stopped to stare at him.

"The building, I mean…" he adds needlessly, "Yeah, somewhat shorter than I… anticipated…"

No one has moved. Except— it feels to Severus like the vampire twisting his left arm is beginning to tremble.

"Yes, it's me." The man says, as if this is the most obvious thing in the world.

He grins for no more than half a second. It isn't a gesture of cheer, but a display of his teeth… particularly those two sharp, extended incisors.

Vampires drop to their knees and bow their heads. Some of the more frantic ones are pulling at the wizards' robes, trying to get them to the ground as well. Those who are still standing look to Daniel for instructions. They have no sense of the significance of this moment.

Daniel understands perfectly.

"Mike." Daniel says solemnly, nodding his head.

"Obstreperous bastard." Mike replies, with equal solemnity.

"What are you doing here?" Daniel's voice is losing its self-important tone. "I thought you had written me off. That you didn't want anything to do with me?"

"Well I didn't…" Mike starts casually, "but then you went and abused the gift I gave you. It's been nagging at me for a while and then Boom! I find myself smack in the middle of your bloodling's dream. This is the most disgusting thing you've done yet. I can't believe how much of sadistic freak you are!"

The faces of the wizard-lackeys twist in confusion. The vampire that had seemed so strong in his cruelty is twisting in front of this average-looking man like a child being lectured.

"And you treated your bloodling so much better, did you?" Daniel wines.

"I. Did. Not. Make. You!" Mike can't believe Daniel is trying to make excuses. "I tried to help you. I got into that big twisted mess of yours. Stuff that I had avoided all my life. The mortal, the covenants, running from humans… all that ridiculous stuff they write about vampires."

"Well you-" Daniel tries to cut in.

"Shut the hell up!" Shouts Mike. "I am not going to stand for this! You turned three years of my life into an undead cliché! Do you have any idea how long it took for me to feel abnormal again?"

A vampire makes his way towards Mike, sliding on his knees. When he gets close enough, he reaches out and takes Mike's hand, bringing it to his forehead.

"Please, Mike…" He says, knowing better than to address him by the title that the worshippers normally used. It was much too long for the occasion, and besides… the vampire (who had been such before the existence of Hell) hated being worshipped. "I beg you… we did not know of this miserable cretin's origins. If we had, we would never have dreamed of--"

"Sure you wouldn't have. You're all far too petrified of angering me." Mike mutters bitterly.

"Thank you, thank you… We are eternally grateful. As penance, we would be overjoyed if you would allow us to dispose of the unworthy one."

Mike smirks at Daniel, who nearly pisses himself.

Mike is just about to tell his crazy fan-vamps to do nothing of the kind…

And then he spots Draco.

He walks over to the lifeless body, where a young man and another, older man kneel beside him. The only blood on him is someone else's; the result of some desperate kill. There are finger marks on his arms, from holding himself during the torture sessions. Mike can tell that this was done with magic; the sent of an ugly curse is still in the air. The bruises and cuts that are starting to show are post-mortem. If the torture didn't kill him, what did?

"He's gone…" Says the young man hoarsely, "he's really gone." The poor soul is rocking slightly in his distress, one hand petting the corpse before him. He pulls at Draco's shirt, opening it a bit wider.

There is a mark on Draco's chest, just below his neck, where a pendant might rest. Mike drops into a crouch, to see it better. It's a fresh cut. It runs down in a zigzag, only about an inch and a half long. The mark of the curse wizards use to kill each other…

"What gives you the right to break up love and friendships, Daniel? Do you think you're allowed because nobody gives a shit about you?" Mike's words are left to echo in the open air.

Shaking his head, he removes his handkerchief and wipes the blood from Draco's face and neck. When he finishes, he lays the spotless kerchief over the curse wound.

Mike stands, sighing heavily. To the vampires around him he says;

"I accept your form of penance."

**

* * *

A/N: I'm so excited, whee! The next twist is going to be so much fun! Yipee!**

Ahem, on a more serious note:

Thank you so much! That's to everyone who has reviewed this story, or put it as an alert or favourite, or was simply kind enough to read it. The response has been so encouraging… I hope that I might at some point have another fic received even half as well as this one.

Merci! Dank! Arigato!

See you next chapter!

-Sike


	12. Two Bedroom Flat

Disclaimer: Oompa loompa doopidy doo, I don't own the Potter books and neither do you!

You Bloody Stupid Bastard!

Chapter 12: Two-bedroom flat

"…_No warmth, no breath, shall testify thou livest; _

_The roses in thy lips and cheeks shall fade _

_To paly ashes, thy eyes' windows fall, _

_Like death, when he shuts up the day of life; _

_Each part, deprived of supple government, _

_Shall, stiff and stark and cold, appear like death…"_

_-Friar Laurence, 'Romeo and Juliet'_

The only trace of sentiment in Severus's mind is the relief that he has put distance between himself and that god-forsaken tower.

He manages to apparate within three blocks of his building. A little off, since his target was the living room. Closer inspection of his wand reveals it to be split down the left side. Brilliant.

If Draco had been alive to hear Daniel's screams as he was torn apart by his more "worthy" brethren, he would be relishing the ringing in his ears at this very moment.

Severus, unfortunately, is not. Being in a state of stunned calmness, the ringing only adds the promise of a future headache. Having just recently acquired an immortal's strength and stamina, he does not find Draco's corpse to be a burden.

The only dead weight slowing him down is Potter. Who decided that, after seeing Daniel's death, he needed to vomit all over himself. Moping, bleeding, reeking, and stumbling along with the gait of a zombie. He does nothing other than parroting Mike's parting words to the air.

"Unless… There's nothing I can do… I have to go… Unless…"

The laid back stranger had left nearly as abruptly as he had arrived. Severus can't even guess how he knew to be there in the first place. Had Mike been there during the time he and Draco's communication was interceded?

The lift is broken… again. Sure, the rate from galleons to pounds makes non-magical life for half-bloods easy, but damn it if muggle technology is ever there when you need it.

Oh well, a couple flights of stairs never k-

"You can't do that!" Harry yells at the shut door. His forehead is beginning to throb from the swift slamming of the door.

"Hello Potter, welcome back to reality. Pleasant trip?" Severus taunts from the other side.

"Open the door, Snape!"

"Why? I thought you liked conversing with thin air…"

"Hey! Fuck you! I was in a state of shock! Where the hell is your compassion?"

"It committed suicide some time ago, along with my pity."

"You soulless bastard! You have no right to shut me out. I love him!" Harry punctuates this statement with several punches at the door.

"Loved. He's gone, Potter. And I have arrangements to make."

"No you don't! There's no past-tense on how I feel! I'm not going to let go!"

"That's too bad, Kate Winslet, I'm making the decisions on Draco's behalf."

"Why you?"

"He's in my care. Therefore so is the duty of representing him."

"You don't deserve to have that power." Harry says hatefully.

"How dare you?" Severus's voice has gone cold and deadly.

It isn't fair… it isn't fair to rub this in the face of someone Draco cared about… but the words keep circling in his mind to the point that they come out by their own volition:

"He didn't die for you!" Harry cries.

To Harry, it happens in a blur. A strong hand wraps around his throat and the next moment he is flung down the front hall of Severus's flat. His arms begin to sting from carpet burn as he splutters for air.

Severus examines his hand with a quiet wonder. He'd just thrown another human being around with one hand. It isn't the violence he finds so shocking, but the fact that it was so easy.

Turning his attention back to Harry, Severus finds it hard to recall his anger. He has the right. He has every right to rip the kid's head off. But with so many new things invading his mind, it seems like his anger towards Harry is unimportant. It's a fact of life, and it'll be there, waiting for him on the other side of… all this.

Besides, much as he hates to acknowledge it, the bastard has a point.

He closes the door and approaches Harry, who seems to be bracing himself for another attack. Severus nearly begins with a snide comment about cowardice… but then his eye catches the curse-scar hiding under the younger man's bangs and he lets it go.

"No he didn't. And yet I found myself with his life in my hands on numerous occasions. Now, my seniority more than entitles me to the management of Draco's final rites-"

Harry is on his feet, ready to voices his protests. Severus catches his jaw, holding it in a vice-like grip to keep Harry from interrupting.

"However," Severus continues, with emphasis, "I cannot deny that Draco had some certain misguided, albeit strong, feelings for you."

"Mmmve!" Is all Harry can manage because Severus's hand.

"Yes, that. I'm not doing this for you, make no mistake about that. It just happens to work in your favour that I have a two bedroom flat… you can sleep on the couch in the living room."

Severus releases his grip and stalks off. Doubting that he wants to be thanked, Harry wordlessly follows him into the flat. It is, in all probability, a marvellously arranged flat, well worth the money that was put into it… but none of this catches Harry's eye.

The door to the guest bedroom is ajar. Two double beds lie parallel to each other, each tucked in its own corner. Harry decides that Severus must have moved in recently; there are moving boxes sitting neatly under one of the beds. The obscure potion names and ingredients scrawled across them are the only thing about the room that seems unnatural.

Even Draco's body, which Severus set down on the other bed moments ago, looks somehow in place. His arms aren't arranged in some reverent pose… his body is tilted towards the far wall with his arms loose and his legs crossed. It's as if any second he'll begin to stir, to wake. Pull himself from a deep sleep and stretch lazily, relishing a wonderful dream…

Severus, as it turns out, is more than capable of making a meal without his wand. Not knowing (or perhaps not caring) if it should be lunch or breakfast, Severus makes a well rounded stew.

Harry considers objecting about Severus's use of tomato soup as a base, but decides to let it go. It may remind him of the vampires feasting on Daniel's insides… but Harry likes **his** insides where they are. It's Snape… under stress, and newly vampiric. That infamously short fuse can't be much longer than an eyelash.

The stew is served, and the two men eat it in silence.

Sweet… but full of meat and different vegetables and-

Hey! what is that? Damn that's good!

Harry is forced to admit (at least to himself) that Snape is a good cook.

(So clearly, the irony of what happens next is not lost on him.)

As Severus moves to clear the table, his stomach lurches. A frightening weakness takes hold of him and he drops one of the bowls.

"What happened?" Harry asks, his concern for human life getting the better of him.

"Nothing." Severus lies. "Could you just-"

Severus turns sharply towards the sink. He retches violently, bringing up all of his meal. Harry sees the red gush splatter into the sink and nearly loses his own lunch. All Severus can do is lean over the counter and let it happen. With a few final dry-heaves, the fit ends.

Severus grabs a cloth and wipes his mouth with it. His hand shakes as cleans himself… his skin has a sickly pallor to it, even for him.

"Are you all right?" Harry asks. Severus looks over, using the counter for support.

"Yes. Perfect."

"Liar."

It hasn't been thirty minutes, and something is starting up again.

A noise. It's faint, but undeniably near.

Harry doesn't hear it… Severus can tell from the far-off expression on his face. The boy who thinks he's an adult is peacefully oblivious to the intrusive sound.

If only it could be a little quieter, or even a little louder, it might be easier to withstand. But it isn't.

thudthudthudthudthudthudthudthudthudthudthud…

Severus is starting to feel like he's being mocked by that noise. If he could just locate the source, he would snuff it out. But where is it coming from?

Severus pauses. Completely. He doesn't make the slightest move, going so far as to hold his breath. Come on… where is it?

As if of someone gently tapping…

There, to the left! It's-

"It's you."

"What? What's me?" Harry inquires, coming out of his reverie.

"This incessant thudding sound. It's you."

"I don't hear it." Harry says, confused. He looks down at his arms and then checks his pockets. "I don't even have a watch or anything."

"Whether you can hear it or not is immaterial. I can hear it plainly. You're certain it's not from a charm?"

Harry frowns. "I don't cast anything on myself. What does it sound like?"

Severus drums his fingers against the wall, mimicking the pattern still running in his ears. Harry's face changes as he listens. He starts to feel anxious.

"Severus, isn't it obvious?" He receives a look. "but… that's the sound of heartbeats."

Severus's expression darkens. He brings a hand up over his mouth, contemplating. After a few moments, Severus gets up and hastens to his room. He begins searching through his nightstand's drawer, shuffling about papers, unused napkins and receipts. Anything left in his pockets from a day out always found its way to this drawer.

It has to be in there…

Got it!

Severus pulls out the napkin which has been written on with a deep purple ink. The directions have faded and smudged, but he can still make them out:

"_Walk along the left side of Diagon Alley's West end._

_You'll pass Nocturne Alley_

_then Finun Crook_

_then TURN onto Odin St._

_you can't miss it –red banner reading: Sharps"_

"I have to leave." Severus says, swinging his long coat over his shoulders.

"Why?" Harry watches Snape with trepidation, his mind replaying Draco as gorged on the blood from that innocent wizard.

Well fine, not innocent… but so painfully mortal. It was still wrong.

"It doesn't concern you. All you need to know is that I will be gone all day and that upon pain of death you are not to enter my room." Severus leaves the flat, locking the door on his way out.

Harry walks quietly across the flat to the guest bedroom. Draco is still there, looking perfectly at ease.

"Hey." Harry says softly, kneeling down in front of the bed. He takes hold of Draco's hand. He kisses it, trying to ignore how cold it feels against his lips.

"You were supposed to get Severus to come around, love. You've done a horrible job."

Harry tries to laugh, but he can't even hold a smile with his eyes on Draco's expressionless face.

"Don't feel bad. I'd feel the same if he had caused your death…"

He rests his head against the bed, letting the tears take over.

Harry wakes to find himself lying in an awkward position on the floor. His shoulder is stiff and his entire left leg is numb.

How long had he slept? Harry pulls himself up off the floor and leaves the guest room without looking back. The curtains are closed and the flat is lit in cold grey light that doesn't seem to come from anywhere in particular.

Severus is back. He's sitting in a chair in the living area, an enormous book with the words "World Atlas" on it obscuring him from view.

Harry opens his mouth to ask what there is to drink, but stops short as the Atlas is lowered.

"Shit, there really is a London in Canada!"

Harry is frozen in shock, unable to stop staring. What? How? When? WHAT?

Draco stares back, equally surprised.

"Harry…"


	13. And our bodies left to burn

Disclaimer: I know of her, she knows of you, and you want to sue me… and everybody's okay with this? See those Fs? Look at them, then fuck off.

A/N: Look at me, I could be Grease Lightning! Vampiric is a word if I say it is, so spell-check can bugger off to hell.

ps- I actually posted this before labour day but apparently ff isn't my friend so no one could see my update.

**thisisalinetoseparatebecausetheffnetlineisbeingahugejackassthankyouthatisall**

Chapter 13: And our bodies left to burn

**thisisalinetoseparatebecausetheffnetlineisbeingahugejackassthankyouthatisall**

He's here! He's here! Alive!

"Oh my God!" With joy filling up inside him (and no room left for sanity) Harry runs at Draco, knocking the chair over backwards.

"Friggin' ow…" Draco mutters from underneath.

Straddling his legs, Harry pulls Draco up into a sitting position. For a moment, he merely stares, searching his lover for any traces of trauma or illness. Finding none, he takes hold of Draco's head and kisses him fiercely.

Initially, upon seeing Harry, Draco had started to ready the explanation he would have to supply. But he hadn't expected to be jumped.

To Hell with explanations!

This happens now.

Draco pulls himself away from the chair to lean against the wall. Harry scoots forward on his lap and he can't help but shiver. He locks his arms around Harry's waist. They're mouths open to each other in unison, their tongues sliding together. It is so perfect, his emotions are pitched and mmm, this mortal's heart is racing…

"I thought you were gone." Harry whispers fervently. Both men quickly discard their shirts. Hands begin tingling along sensitive spots and bare skin presses together.

Harry breaks the kiss in favour of teasing his way along Draco's neck. He moves down, letting his tongue trace Draco's collar- to which Draco makes a small noise of appreciation. The two freeze when Harry's lips pass over something foreign.

"It's your scar…" He says solemnly. "What did-"

No. Draco can't to let this moment be ruined. Please, let the drama wait. He passes his tongue along one of his fangs, so that blood fills his mouth. In a move that Clark Gable would be proud of, he brings Harry roughly into another kiss.

The blood hits Harry's mouth and warms every inch of his flesh. It amplifies his senses-making each touch, each breath, each twitch of his body more heated and satisfying.

Draco smiles at the haze that comes to Harry's eyes.

"Wow…" Harry says dreamily.

"I read that in an Anne Rice book once and I've always wanted to try it."

"Book-nerd."

"Harry…" Draco says, resting fingers on those blood-stained lips, "could I-"

"Yes."

Harry urges Draco to lie down, seeking out that enthralling taste once again. Nicking Harry's tongue, Draco feels his eyes sting at the memory of his first taste of this blood. He pushes the thought away. This blood… enticing, warm-- given in love and desire, no memory linked with this taste can ever be regretted.

_I love you so god damn much…_

More of this feeling, more of it! Oh, there can never be enough…

Harry pulls away, resting his head on Draco's shoulder.

"What?" Draco asks, cupping his flushed face. "What's the matter?"

"Need… air…" Harry gasps, turning to look at his love with a broad grin. "You take a lot out of me, you know…"

"Not yet I haven't." Draco replies, rolling over to be on top.

**thisisalinetoseparatebecausetheffnetlineisbeingahugejackassthankyouthatisall**

"I want… my pants…" Draco gropes around until his fingers find a belt loop. Harry tries to stop him in a feeble, teasing manner.

"No, I don't want you in pants yet." He murmurs against Draco's back.

"Too bad. I want me in pants, my ass is freezing."

"Oh Draco… You and your delicate ass."

"And whose fault is that?" He retorts, turning around.

Harry laughs. He brings his forehead to press against Draco's. He starts playing with the blonde's hair, despite the fact that it drives him crazy.

Draco lets him.

"Well, that was a first." Harry comments with a grin.

"What are you talking about?" Draco replies. "We've shagged."

"True. But I've never shagged a vamp before."

"You better not have! So how was it?"

"Mmm, disorienting." Harry glances down for an instant. "And do you know what else?"

"What?"

"Those aren't your pants."

Draco exhales slowly, becoming sombre. This isn't the sort of moment he wants to destroy. Still, he's aware that he can't put this off any longer. Time is winding down.

"In a few minutes, it's not going to matter."

"What?" Harry says warily, immediately recognising that ominous tone.

"I'm sorry. I was being selfish. I didn't want to say anything- it felt so good just to be with you like nothing had ever happened…" He shuts his eyes, trying to keep the pain at bay. Harry softly embraces him, slipping his head beneath Draco's chin.

"It's not selfish. It's exactly how I felt. Just tell me what's wrong."

"This is wrong." Draco says, sighing heavily. "This place- isn't with the living."

"Snape's flat?"

"Cute Harry, but no. You were in Severus's flat before, I suppose… which would explain why it looks that way. This… is a space for the dead."

Harry's heart falters. He tightens his arms around Draco as if he might suddenly vanish.

"So you are dead." He says sadly.

"Yes- um, no? Maybe… I don't really know."

"Now I'm confused." '_You're not alone…'_

"Well it was a killing curse, so I should have died. But then again, I _shouldn't_ have, because I'm a vampire; immortal and all that."

"Which means?"

"Before, I thought it meant I was stuck here. In between. But what with Daniel's death and now you coming here, I'm beginning to believe I have a chance."

"Hey." Harry pulls back a bit to be face to face with Draco. "How did you know Daniel was dead?"

"I saw him go by. It was sort of like being by the window when someone takes off on their broom. He looked, um… blood-soaked."

"Yeah, Mike let the other vampires kill him."

"Mike?" It's Draco's turn for a surprise. "He came to the tower?"

"You know him?"

"Sort of. He was in my dream that night in the tower. He had a handkerchief that-"

"Never gets dirty?" Harry finishes.

"Shit. He knows something-" Draco pauses, feeling their separation approaching. "Okay, you'll need to find him when you get back, he might know what to do…"

"When I get back?"

"Shhh. Quickly, was my body destroyed?"

"No…"

"Where is it?"

"Y-you're in the spare room"

"Alright, that might be part of it. Severus knows that I'm to be cremated with vampiric rites… you can't let him do it."

"How do I-"

"Just tell him the truth."

"Draco, he won't-" Harry's complaint is cut-off by a kiss.

"I love you." Draco says softly, putting his hand over Harry's eyes.

**thisisalinetoseparatebecausetheffnetlineisbeingahugejackassthankyouthatisall**

"Potter?" Harry's head snaps up at the sound of that voice. He finds himself lying on the floor in Severus's spare room. Draco's arm is dangling inanimately from the bed.

Harry stands up, facing said owner of the spare room. The windows behind him reveal it to be dusk.

"How long have you been lying there?" Serevus speaks without anger. In fact his tone seems to hold a twinge of… sympathy? Impossible.

"I really don't know…" Harry's expression seems somewhat vacant. "I have to tell you-"

"Not in here." Severus says pointedly. Harry nods. He steps out into the living area. He looks briefly over his shoulder as Severus closes the door, and then does a double-take.

"Severus, your lip is bleeding." He says, gesturing at the blood on the man's face.

Severus licks his bottom lip quickly and looks away.

"No it isn't."

**thisisalinetoseparatebecausetheffnetlineisbeingahugejackassthankyouthatisall**

A/N: I think I deserve it…

looks pointedly at the review button


	14. Leverage

**You Bloody Stupid Bastard!**

**Chapter 14**: Leverage

* * *

"So Draco is alive?" Severus repeats, his expression no more forgiving than the first time he heard it.

"Yes."

"And he doesn't want to be cremated, but instead expects us to bring him back somehow?"

"That's exactly it."

For a moment Severus keeps perfectly still. Harry holds his breath. The man would see reason, wouldn't he? After all, this isn't just anyone, this is Draco. Someone they both love. Yes, Snape was sure to-

"Ah, bleeding Christ!" Harry lets out a yell, holding his cheek which is turning bright red. "Would you stop that?"

"No." Severus states simply. "This is beyond pathetic. I thought I'd seen you with poor coping skills before, but at this magnitude… I'm not going to put up with it." He takes a pause to press a hand to his face. He has his own grief to deal with, and npw with Potter aggravating him like this it is just…

It is just so hard to keep it together.

"You had a dream. A manifestation of your sorrow and guilt. Leave it at that. Your mind may be focused on wanting him back, but the idea that he can somehow come back from death is delusional."

"I've dreamt plenty of things, but I've also had visions of real events!" Harry says, becoming flustered. "It felt too real to be a dream! We were here! We shagged in your bloody apartment! Why the hell would I make that up?"

"Well perhaps if you were to-" Realisation catches up and taps him on the shoulder. "You did WHAT?! WHERE?!"

He looks at Harry with an expression somewhat akin to horror. "What the fuck is wrong with you? Get the hell out of my apartment!"

* * *

It is some minutes later. Harry, a little stunned from being tossed into the hall at such a forceful speed, is finally putting two and two together. 

And four is: Severus thinks he's a necrophiliac.

"You sodding idiot!" He mutters to himself. That was NOT what he had meant.

Now what is he supposed to do? He has no clue when Severus is going to get Draco cremated. It could be in a month, or a week. Or in an hour. And then his lover will be gone. Again. And forever.

_No. NO! It's not going to happen._ Harry's mind goes back to the hand over his eyes and the kiss that had come with it. Draco is waiting on the other side. He has more faith in Snape than the man deserves. But there's no proof but his word… and Harry's word hasn't been of any value to Snape in a long time. If it ever was.

That man- er, that _vampire_ is not leaving his house! If he can't get out- he can't take Draco anywhere and kill him. Simple? Simple. Harry sits down against the apartment door with his face set grimly. Snape thinks he can be stubborn?

* * *

Back inside, Severus walks over to the guest bedroom. He opens the door and looks in on his motionless visitor. One arm is still hanging off the side of the bed from when Harry held the dead man's hand in his sleep. His throat tightening, Severus enters the room. He puts Draco's arm back in place, his senses squirming at the feeling of emptiness inside his friend. Bloodlessness. 

"What do you want?" The words hang in the dead air, with no answer on its way and none expected.

He takes a moment to watch Draco's face, promising himself that he'll leave again in just a moment…

Wait…

Was that same expression on his face yesterday?

Severus feels a longing pushing at the back of his mind. He wants to be closer, press his shoulder, and ask him if he's there… But he won't do it. The pain is already too acute. The silence he knows he would get back would only make it worse. He is paying now for his earlier numbness.

_Walk away. Yes. Close the door. Don't let that fool confuse you. You have letters to write._

He bolts the front door before going to his desk.

* * *

Aside from a very quick bathroom break, (which he ran frantically to do in order not to let the door go unguarded for too long) Harry has been sitting in the hall for four hours. His legs have cramped twice, gone to sleep seventeen times and stretched for a total of forty-two minutes. 

It's akin to the time he spent locked in the tower, only this time he's been imprisoning himself.

The elevator is working again. He's heard it go by several times. This time, the lift slides to a halt, making a small bell sound out as it opens. Harry looks up at the noise. A muggle man steps out. Muggle, but by no stretch normal. He wears an intimidating pair of leather boots that go up to the shin. Despite their obvious weight, the young man makes no sound as he approaches. He has a dark jacket that looks almost battle-worn. There are sharp metal spikes protruding from one of the shoulders.

"Hey." He speaks with an accent that's either Canadian or American. His skin is chalky, all the way to his bare scalp, which is interrupted by a massive green Mohawk.

Harry stands, pins and needles assault his right foot. He says nothing.

The man frowns and comes closer.

"Is Severus Snape here?" Face to face the visitor's eyes are ruby red.

"Uh- no…" Harry lies quickly. "I'm- actually waiting for him to get back." Who the hell is this?

"I'm Pawn- or Xero, if you prefer…" He shuffles for something in his pocket…a matchbook. "I've got to head back out- would you give this to him, uh…?"

"Harry. And yeah. Sure."

"Kay, thanks. Make sure you tell him it's from me." He makes to go back, but hesitates. "Oh, Harry?"

"Hm?"

"Tell him I'll be there."

As the elevator opens, Harry examines the matchbook:

**_SHARPS_**

_**# 71 Odin Street**_

_Friday night is non-humans only!_

On the inside of the cover, there iss a phone number and a few Kanji symbols written in pen. Not at all comfortable with the man or the place indicated by the matchbook, Harry holds the thing between his thumbs and index fingers, ready to tear the thing into little bits… Hold on a minute! There's something else he can do.

* * *

"You say you have what?" Severus asks, blocking the doorway. 

"Leverage." Harry says firmly, holding it up in his closed fist.

"Hiding it from me eradicates your so called 'leverage'. You might as well have nothing." He looks ready to slam the door again. "Besides, if you've really been here the whole time, (which is nothing short of madness) where did it come from?"

Relishing this rare experience of having the upper hand, Harry smirks.

"It came from number seventy-one Odin Street."

Severus's face goes immediately from suspicious to incredulous.

"What? How the hell do you know about Sharps?"

"I didn't before some bloke came by with a message. Hence…" Harry gestures for Severus to finish his thought.

There has to be something… someway he can… by violence? What about… No. Then…? Blast! It's no use.

"Fucking leverage. What do you want, you bastard?"

"Give me a chance to prove he's alive."

They re-enter the house.

Severus sits on the second bed in the guest room. He runs Pawn's phone number over and over in his head, memorising it. Harry is sitting on the floor in front of Draco's bed, holding his hand. The sleeping potion takes affect a second later.

* * *

Draco jumps up from his chair. Harry opens the door and dashes into his arms. 

"Oh my god, oh my god, oh my god." Harry whispers fervently into his ear. "That was close."

"What? What happened?" Draco pulls back, taking Harry's hands.

"He didn't believe me! It's only luck that I got here. I almost lost you."

"How did you get back?" Draco rubs his shirt absently, feeling his curse scar beneath the fabric.

"Some friend of his came by. He had a matchbook from a club with a-"

"A club? Sharps?" Draco interrupts. Harry is taken aback.

"What? Yes- how did you know?"

"If he goes to Sharps, he's a friend of mine. It was probably Xero…"

"It was." Harry feels uneasy. "Who is he?"

"A friend. You never met. I got to know him when you and I weren't…" Draco catches Harry's expression and fires up. "Hey! Don't do that. Fine… A year, alright?"

"A year!"

"One. During which NOTHING serious happened and we've been strictly friends since then." Draco's face falls and he won't make eye contact. He seems more hurt now than defensive.

_What are you doing? He nearly died for you!_ Harry feels his face heat up. "No, please. I- I didn't mean to react that way. It's stupid to think that you would go six years without meeting somebody. When you split up with someone, it's normal to move on. You go out and socialise… meet people."

"You did that too, of course…" Draco says, looking for an affirmation.

"Uh… yeah, I dated." Harry says in a way that he prays sounds convincing.

"You didn't." Draco says with amazement.

"I didn't." Harry's face gets even redder.

"Never mind that." Draco tries not to smile at how endearing this news is. "What do we do to convince Severus?"

"Uh…I don't know. Couldn't you just get inside his head?"

Draco frowns, considering this. "I don't think I am in your head. And I had no control over letting you in."

"Then tell me something secret. Something I couldn't possibly find out that's just between the two of you."

Draco lets a grin light up his face. He knows the perfect secret to do the trick.

* * *

Severus only has to wait twenty-five minutes before Harry awakes. There is something about the younger man's face that looks positively demonic. 

"So?" Severus asks sceptically. "Do you have proof?" Harry smiles at him in a way that nearly chills his spine.

"No proof." He admits jovially. "Leverage."

"Oh?" Severus only enjoys being on the giving end of mind games. If this goes on much longer, he won't be dining out.

"Draco has a message for you. He said: 'Tell Severus that if he won't believe I'm alive, I'll tell you about that letter he never sent out."'

Harry can now see a great deal more of the whites of Severus's eyes.

"Oh, and he's going to tell me where I can find it." Harry adds helpfully.

When Severus pulls his composure back into place, his first words are: "Bloody hell… he's alive."

* * *

MWAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!!!!! 

Aw that was awesome, I haven't fic-ed in so long.

Glee glee glee glee.

Bye chaps

See ya SOON!

Promise.

-Sike


	15. Trying

**A/N: Wow... I'm back already. I knew I could do it! It's all of you nice folk who review or have my story on alert that encourage me to update. Here it is: **

**

* * *

You Bloody Stupid Bastard!**

Chapter 15: Trying

* * *

"You're absolutely sure you won't tell me what was in the letter?"

"No, for the umpteenth time! He's keeping his end of the bargain; it would be unforgivable to give up his secret."

The two sit in the underworld's version of Severus's apartment. Somewhere, on the other end of consciousness, Severus is trying to read into this place by getting inside Harry's mind.

So far, they haven't heard from him.

"He doesn't have to _know_." Harry points out. Draco shakes his head, laughing.

"You idiot! Alright, even if you could keep it to yourself- and I know you would have to rub it in his face or tell other people- even if you did, has it occurred to you that Severus is in your head at this very moment?"

"Oops." It hadn't. It isn't fair! Whatever the letter said, Harry has a feeling it was big. His ever-eager curiosity is winding up inside him. "Can I guess?"

_Let him, he'll stop nagging about it. Besides, he won't ever guess…_

"Fine." Draco concedes. Harry brightens up immediately.

"Excellent! You have to tell me when I'm right." He says sternly.

"I'll answer 'yes' _if _you're right."

Harry takes a moment to consider his first question. What could possibly make Severus freak out so entirely? It's not as if he hadn't seen some pretty embarrassing things from the man's life already.

"Is it an old letter?"

"No."

"Who's it for?"

Draco frowns. "Yes or no only, Harry."

"Is it for you?"

"No."

"Is it for… me?"

"No!" Draco exclaims, laughing at the very idea.

"Is it for someone I know?"

"Yes."

"Hmm... Crabbe?"

"Nope."

"Ron?"

"Pft!" All Draco can manage is more laughing.

"Okay, wrong ballpark… McGonagall?"

Draco shakes his head, lips pressed tightly together.

"Gilderoy?"

With that, Draco bursts into a fit of giggles. He clutches his stomach, quite unable to retain anything resembling vampiric or masculine dignity. He wipes a tear from his eye and waves for Harry to stop.

"Harry! No more names, please! Oh, it's just too funny to bear…" He sighs light-heartedly, with Harry feeling increasingly confused.

"Is it something incriminating?" He tries.

"Not literally speaking."

"Then what-" Harry pauses to cough. "**Draco? Are you there?**" His voice is altered. It's the same voice, but his tone and inflections are entirely different. Harry holds his head, feeling disoriented.

"Harry how did you…"

"I'm not really- **shut it! Draco, can you here me?**" Harry looks cross, clearly not liking words coming flying out of his mouth at random. It makes perfect sense to Draco.

"Severus?"

"**Yes. I'm afraid I haven't gathered much from this experiment. I was lucky to break through to you at all.**"

"So how is Harry connecting to me?"

"**At this point I haven't found out. Metaphysically speaking, this is a dream. There isn't a hint of possession in Potter's mind, from what I can tell. Perhaps if his thoughts were better organised- **hey don't blame me for your short comings, even you aren't- **CONTINUING ON! I don't think any spells can be effectively used in this subconscious realm.**"

"So you're going to wake him up?"

"**Yes. We won't be able to get you back from the inside. There are only so many people I can speak to. I might need Harry to assist me.**"

Harry is considering making a snarky comment, but thinks better of it. Severus's voice has changed. He isn't the same man who sent Harry to Draco in the first place. Does it have to do with vampirism? What does it feel like?

"Okay." Draco says. "It's good to hear your voice."

"**Thank you. It will be a relief to speak with you face to face. There are many things we need to talk about.**"

"I know."

* * *

"Ahhh." Severus relishes his meal, part of him still wondering at the horror of it. That part is small now, killed a little bit more with each feeding.

The blood. It does strange things to his head. If he captures the victim in the wrong way, it feels like the worst hangover he's ever had. Strange spirits lying dormant latch onto him in the moment of a kill. They assail him with their haunting auras, knowing a new bloodling when they see one.

The rules about vampirism in the wizarding world were made to protect both the humans and non-humans. Vampire or not, a wizard is not allowed to kill another wizard. On the other hand, it is not illegal to be a vampire. (This would be no fairer than making it illegal to be a werewolf or half-giant). So if a vampire doesn't maim you in the feeding process, there is nothing that can be done. Blood isn't a possession that can be stolen anymore than tears or hair. Then again, not much blood can be drained without bringing a person to harm. The Ministry believes that refusing to let vampires be exempt from murder charges keeps witches and wizards safe.

Severus knows this very well, but a fatal draining no one sees can't really be held against you. Xero had said it tasted better… and he was right.

Oh hell, who is going to miss Ernie Macmillan, really?

* * *

"There can't be nothing!"

Severus disagrees with this. After searching every possible angle in his magical knowledge (which is quite expansive) Severus is admitting defeat. If there is a way, a wizard can't do it. He doesn't like giving up- but it's been weeks of effort without the slightest result. On top of that, he's been trying to keep from murdering Harry.

He is impatient and insensitive. He isn't the one who feels like an intruder in his own skin- with newborn senses that cause horrible headaches when allowances aren't made for them.

But still, the end is the end. He can't get Draco back.

"You can't just give up!" Harry's plaintive cries are tearing into Severus. Emotions have their own power. Most vampires know how to block some of it. But Severus doesn't know how. He feels each passion strike him like wild surf against the coast. Even in the silence Harry's human vibes are an unbearable beacon.

"LEAVE ME ALONE!" Severus roars before Harry gets a chance to speak again. He brings his fists smashing down onto the counter- bits of tile fly free under the inhuman force.

Stunned by the outburst, Harry feels himself calming down.

"Severus? Are you-"

There's a knock at the door. Severus passes his hands through his hair, slowly exhaling his dread.

"Do you want me to-"

"No…" Severus waves away Harry's offer. "It's fine."

Who on earth is it? What person has any reason to come to Severus's flat?

"Ouch… you look like hell." Says the man at the door.

"Oh, it's you. I- I don't… Come in Mr. …?" He steps back, letting the vampire in.

"No Mr. … didn't I mention? It's just Mike."

"What are you doing here?" Harry asks as the two undead men come down the front hall.

Mike regards Harry for a moment, noting the young man's emotional condition. He has anxieties, worries… but none of the devastation that had been there before. It's true. Draco is alive. Mike has felt this way for sometime, but he had decided not to come before...

Before he knew how to help.

"I'm here to bring Draco back." He says confidently.

* * *

Next chapter is the last! And I'm alread working on it! See you later.

-Sike


	16. Magic Trick

A/N: Hi all! It's the final chapter. Are you excited? I am.

As per usual it's been a while since I last updated this fic. I know that this can be irritating and even (and this pains me terribly) cause people to give up on a certain story. If you are a fic writer, you may be a little more tolerant of this.

Well, whoever you are let me say this: I have mental problems.

This sounds funny, and it is. I laugh with people when I say it. Go ahead… be amused. Hee hee hee… -)grin(-

But it's also true. Trust me, I'm medicated.

I haven't been able to give my 100 in anything for at least a year and a half.

It's been frustrating as hell, but I've been dealing with it.

I'm getting better. -(Monty Python voice)- I think I may go for a walk…

I'm not looking for pity. I just wanted to explain myself. Peace.

Okay BLAH!!! Now that I've done that let me say thanks for coming out! And be sure you don't skip the author's note at the end. I wouldn't want you to miss my treat for everyone!

Tired of hearing me blab on? Yeah, I get sick of me too.

And four hours later… here's the chapter

* * *

Chapter 16- Magic Trick 

Mike looks from one face to the other. He has the rapt attention of both men. He is telling them how he found the way to bring Draco back.

"It really confused me at first… how could a mortal spell do so much damage? But then I remembered that it is possible for vampires to ascend and descend spiritual plains..."

Harry hasn't the foggiest idea what that means. All that matters is that it's possible.

"… if Draco is caught in one of these, as he seems to be, then all it will take is the combined effort of three people to pull him down."

"That's perfect!" Harry exclaims. "The three of us can do it."

Mike nods, his uneasiness goes unnoticed. What he is quite purposely failing to mention, however, is the delicacy of Harry's participation: essential but potentially useless. In short, Draco can't be pulled back without him. If he fails, there won't be any other way.

Severus isn't satisfied with this short explanation.

"How is it done?" He asks.

"Normally, a vampire would be able to do it himself. A mortal attack can push you out the world, but they can't keep you there. The magic in a killing curse is affecting what would otherwise be an effortless feat. A wizard can't do anything to undo a killing curse. We, on the other hand, can pull off a magic trick. Let the magic boundaries think that they've done their job right, when in fact we've undone it. It's a trade. We have to cancel our actions out. There's going to be an absence of Draco there, so there's going to be an absence of Draco here."

An absence of Draco here? That doesn't sound very assuring to Severus. Or very specific. What are they trading, exactly?

"So what do we do?" Typically, Harry is more interested in the execution than the theory.

"You can't do anything, I'm afraid. As a human, you can't take part except-" Mike stops himself, he nearly forgets that he isn't going to give away the last part. "except… as an observer."

Severus sighs internally as he watches Harry's hero-complex take a hit. _Gods, Potter! Does it really matter if you are denied your precious glory? Save the chivalry- the means here are insignificant compared to the ends. _

"Without my help, you'll be one man short." Mike turns to Severus for the answer.

"I don't what the vampire crowd is like here… do you think Draco might-"

"Pawn Xero." Severus supplies quickly. "He's a friend of Draco's. I have his number."

* * *

Xero is looking at Mike with a mixture of awe and confusion on his face. He moves to kneel, but Mike immediately speaks up. 

"No, that's not necessary. You're playing chess, aren't you? You don't look like someone following any formalities too strictly."

Pawn nods and then flashes his fangs. "It's a relief to hear common sense coming from one of my betters… for once."

Harry is standing to the side of this vampire rendezvous- with no understanding of the exchanges. Silently seething with impatience, he is unknowingly giving Severus a pulsing headache.

Draco is brought into the living area. (Severus takes a moment to appreciate the irony.) They prop him up in the high-backed chair and Mike instructs Severus and Xero to join him on the floor in front of the chair.

"What are we going to do?" Severus inquires. Xero shrugs in response.

"I don't know." He says honestly. "I've never pulled someone back before." Mike turns at this.

"Really? But I thought playing required a lot of travel?"

"Oh, it does. Where have you been pulling people back?"

"London, Stratford, Kingston…"

"Upon Thames?" Mike grins at this question.

"Funny you should say that, but no. You see, I also spent some time in Toronto."

Pawn's eyes widen. "Oh! Another Canadian, then?"

"Well, for the last century, anyway… you were mortal there?"

"Yep. Drained and left for dead in downtown Vancouver. I was the first Canadian generation of my family. I tried to go home and they screamed 'kyuketsuki!' and threw things at me."

The two foreigners laugh appreciatively for a moment. Severus clears his throat as they finish.

"Although I'm sure it must be- ah, a pleasure to discover a fellow countryman, I would like to get back to the matter at hand."

"Oh, yes, I'm sorry about that." Mike nods in Severus's direction. "Okay… so you're both new at this. We should be able to manage."

"What?" Harry starts up. "You're not sure? What if you bring him back wrong? Or, you might lose him and then he'll really be-"

"Hey!" Mike bristled. "Am I the most worshipped vampire or not? It's not for nothing, you know. We'll manage. Now quiet, everyone." Silently he guides Severus's hand to his right shoulder and Xero's hand to his left. Harry looks on. It seems to him that with this contact, the three vampires have become synchronized. They exhale and close their eyes simultaneously.

* * *

They are not anywhere. There is only wind. It is a continuous wind without temperature that doesn't push or pull those existing within it. 

"Where are we?" Severus asks, though he doesn't seem to have a mouth… or a body, for that matter. He can't seem to make up his mind. The wind strikes him full in the face. Or is his face made of wind? Or is he the wind himself?

"The slipstream." Mike's voice comes from everywhere at once. "From here he should be pretty easy to spot."

"What am I watching for, exactly?" Pawn's disembodied voice asks.

"Focus on _who_ you're looking for." Mike instructs. "You'll know it when you see it."

As simple as this might sound, Severus labors with his task. The whole experience, coupled with everything else he's felt over the past weeks, is putting intense stress on his senses. But the fear of losing his friend is strong enough to keep him together for the time being. _Fall apart when it's done. _

"There!"

The world slides back into being, though the sensation of the slipstream remains. Once again the vampires are sitting in Severus's living room. Almost… Everything appears to be ever so slightly out of focus- like poorly developed film.

Besides this, there is the rather unmistakable detail of there being two Dracos in the room.

"Dra-"

"He doesn't know we're here." Mike cuts in.

"Oh."

The Draco that's propped up like a doll remains as lifeless as ever. The other sits in a chair across the room, unaware of his observers and unaware of how close he is to freedom. Despite the fact that Severus doesn't believes he owns such a book, Draco is busy reading a book called "Chiroptera", the cover of which is an image of a colony of bats exiting a cave.

"Hmm." Mike mutters to himself. Severus turns to find him visible, his eyes fixed intently on the animated Draco.

"What is it?"

"The price is heavy. More so than I thought it would be. Of all vampires, how did Daniel pull this off?"

"Price." Severus repeats shrewdly. "That's the reason for your ambiguous explanation isn't it?"

Mike spreads his hands innocently. "I told you there would be a trade." He sighs sadly. "I was just hoping for an easier one."

Severus is on the verge of being very angry. He pulled them into this without any real warning! But then he feels a hand on his shoulder. He turns and finds himself the subject of Xero's ruby-red gaze.

"Don't worry, Severus. He'll pay the price, no matter what it is. Surely you must know that?" There is some magic alteration happening behind Severus, but he ignores it.

"What? Who are you talking about?" Without answering, Xero's attention shifts to something over Severus's shoulder. Severus looks.

Mike has opened some tear in mid air, visible only by a slight shimmer around its edges. Harry steps through, looking uncertain.

"Here is the price." Mike says, with everyone except Draco listening raptly. "In order for him to disappear on side, he must do so on the other. Harry, this means that from the moment Draco returns to the living- you can never see him again."

At this, both Xero and Severus feel their stomachs drop. _He can't ever see him again?_ It's unfair, not only to Harry, but Draco as well. The very person he had taken a killing curse for would be out of his life. Noticing that Harry is nodding mutely with acceptance, Severus is surprised. Sure, Harry does the 'right thing' all the time. But he isn't even going to protest against this?

"No." Severus says, wondering at his own decision to speak up. "It isn't right. It shouldn't be Harry."

"Severus is right." Xero quips in. "Draco needs this human. They've already been separate for six years."

Mike opens his mouth to speak- but Harry gets there first.

"It's okay. He volunteered to give up his life twice for me that night. I have to return the ges-"

"He loves you, damn it!" Severus exclaims. "And what matters to me right now is what matters to him. The gesture you can return is being with him! It's what he wants." He takes a step towards Mike, his mind flatly made up.

"I'll take the price." He says. Mike shakes his head sadly.

"You can't… it's impossible." He says quietly.

"Then I will." Xero says. He catches Harry's eye and winks. "Nah, I was a sorry excuse for a replacement boyfriend…"

But Mike is shaking his head again. "No, you don't understand. It has to be Harry. They were lovers. Draco has even tasted his blood. It's the strongest connection that needs to be used." Mike pauses to sigh heavily. "As much as I hate to say it- there's just no other way."

Harry smiles, denying the tears which stream down his face.

"What do I do?" He asks Mike in a remarkably even voice.

"Take his hand. Guide him to his body."

Harry walks over to Draco. When he takes his hand, Draco drops the "Chiroptera" book in surprise. He can't see Harry at all. Despite this, he allows himself to be led across the room to the chair holding his physical body- merely an empty seat to Draco's eyes. The active Draco sinks into the chair and his body at the same time. He is sitting straighter than his body, which makes him look like mirage.

Harry hesitates a moment before making up his mind. He leans forward and kisses Draco fiercely, pushing the inconstant Draco back into his constant form.

* * *

The feeling of that ghostly kiss is gone, but I can still feel it on my lips. Wait… 

Am I-

Am I back?

I am!

My vampiric senses are tuned in once more. They tell me before I even look that there are three vampires before me.

"It worked!" My friend exclaims as I open my eyes.

Mike is here. He looks at Pawn crossly.

"Is my word worth nothing?" He looks at me and though he's happy, I can sense disquiet. "Told you I was real."

I laugh. Relief rises in my chest. The feeling of reality on all sides of me is unmistakable.

"Yes. And I won't be telling Harry about your unsent confession letter." I say to Severus.

What? He isn't reacting like I thought he would. He twists his mouth, looking horribly uncomfortable.

Hey!

"Where's Harry?" I try to stand, but Severus intercepts me.

"There was no other way." He says. No other… No, don't do this to me…

"What do you mean?" I can't help the volume of my voice. "Where is he? What did you guys do? Tell me!"

"It was part of the spell that we brought you back with." Xero begins. "There was a price, one that could only be paid by Harry. Severus didn't want it… We both volunteered to pay instead but it just couldn't be done..."

I can feel panic rising inside me. It might as well be that night again. That first moment when I knew that we were trapped in the tower together.

"Please. Just tell me where Harry is." Mike locks eyes with me. His expression is deeply apologetic.

"He's heading home. The price to get you back is that he can't see you at all anymore."

No. No. This can't happen. After everything-

That ghostly kiss was his goodbye...

"The hell he can't!" I shout. I burst to my feet, knocking Severus and Xero out of the way. I run out of the flat and into the hall.

As I dash for the elevator, I can hear my friends in pursuit behind.

"Wait!" Mike shouts. "We've already done the trade. There's no way to know what might happen if you go to him now."

Maybe Mike has a point… but he doesn't realize that loving someone doesn't mean being rational about it.

Damn! I've been to Severus's flat a thousand times… and does the elevator ever work in a pinch? I rush through the door to the stairs. I look down and there… he's almost at the bottom! I'm probably going to regret this later, but here we go. I race down the stairs, using every possible inch of vampiric strength. I'm moving so fast it feels like I'm spiraling down towards the ground like a bird of prey.

I push the door to the parking lot-

Shit!

I manage to stop myself instead of splattering Harry against the wall, as I would have at that speed. This parking lot is dark; lit only by green lights embedded in the pillars. It must be why he's so confused.

"Ah! Hey! What is that?" Harry pulls his wand out defensively.

I push it away and pull him towards me. Real… He's really here. I kiss him, not caring what the consequences are.

He… What's wrong? He won't kiss me back, and now he's pushed me away. Doesn't he-

"Who's there?" He shouts.

I can't seem to speak. I'm in shock. Second pass by and I hear the door to the stairs open again.

"Severus? Mike? What's going on?" He moves to meet them but, "Ah!" he walks right into me as if I wasn't here.

"Harry!" I shout, which only ends up scaring the wits out of him.

"It was literal…" Mike says in wonder.

"What?" Harry and I say in unison. Harry looks quickly over his shoulder before looking to Mike again. With the darkness not a problem for my eyes, I can see the broad grin Mike is wearing. Huh?

"The damn price!" Mike says, almost laughing now. "He can't _see _you. It was only literal. Everything is alright. Harry, Draco is right here. He's invisible to you only."

I can feel the uncertainty broadening in Harry's mind. He wants to reach for me.

"Draco, I have an idea. Enthrall him. He won't see you, of course, but the thrall will let him know where you are."

The moment I do so, I find myself tightly bound by Harry's arms.

"Holy shit holy shit holy shit holy shit." He says rapidly into my shoulder. "I don't care if I can't see you. I thought I would never… But I can hold you. You're here. I love you I love you I love you I love you I love you..." There is so much happiness in him that I can barely sense my friends standing by the door.

"I know you won't want to…" Harry says, rather shyly, considering he's ravishing me. "But could you-"

His happiness is contagious. I smile, even though he can't see it. "Harry! Of course I love you, you bloody stupid bastard!"

"Mm, good." He says. He pulls back for a moment, chewing on his lower lip.

The smell of his blood hits the air and I feel both of my hungers rise.

* * *

The End! 

A/N:

-)bows(-

GAH! Glee glee glee glee glee glee glee glee glee! OH SO MUCH GLEE! GAH!

Ah, I am very happy. I give you a huge doe-eyed look imploring you to review. 0.0

Please?

0.0

I also have a surprise for those who like this fic… but I'm not sure how to tell you…

Damn! I don't have it in me to toy with you! I thought I would lay off, because I really want people to tell me what they think…

As a writer who would one day like to get published, every review helps me see how people react to different things.

But I want to reward everyone who's already been so nice to me. I am nothing without readers.

So here it is:

If any of you sense that I've left some loose ends in this story… it's because I COMPLETELY did! There will be another story that picks up where this one left off, adding more characters to the mix.

In fact, I've already started it. It's called Sellow Vitae. It's a young fic right now, so small and delicate. Only two chapters old. But plans for the whole plot have already been made. (And yes, if you want to know what was in Severus's confession letter, you'll get it in SV.)

Thanks again for reading my fic! Much love to you all. And maybe I'll see you again in Sellow Vitae.

-Sike


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